The Things That Bring Us Together
by jusTaSunshiNeygIrl
Summary: James Potter has been trying for six years to get Lily Evans, will this year be different? With sharing dorms, tons of homework, Quidditch and not to mention a certain dark wizard terrorizing muggle-borns there's likely to be some romance, L/J S/OC R/OC
1. Chapter 1

L/J

Lils,

I realize i haven't written you in weeks! I miss you with all my heart and I have been caught up in all the excitement here in Italy. Time has escaped me completely and sadly I have to admit that I no longer know what day it is! I'm not drinking or getting into trouble don't worry your pretty head off about me I'm just relaxing and soaking up the last days of summer.

I have changed quite a lot, appearance wise and I wanted to send you a picture, but all I have is my muggle camera and for the life of me I can't get it to print! The downsides to being a "pureblood" have I told you how much I hate that name? Muffle magic is much more impressive if you ask me.

Anywhoo I will meet you directly in front of 9 3/4 at 10:28. Precisely! Don't be late I can't wait to tell you every detail of summer! I need to hear about yours as well! I desperately want to know if you've gotten a beau:) Perhaps a certain Quidditch captain with messy black hair? The one who only has eyes for you and you alone?

Love your best friend forever and always,

Shay

P.S. You know how you're always complaining about your hair? You know that gorgeous waterfall of red that I want so dearly and you hate with a passion? Well, in Italy everyone is trying to get that color! It's quite funny because I haven't seen anyone whose looks as beautiful as yours! Anyway I love you darling write me! Please include the date so I know how much time I have wasted!

Lots of Love,

Shay

Lily read the letter from her best friend with a huge smile. Changes in her appearance? Shay was the most beautiful person she knew! She was always an awkward beauty who found boys that drooled over her a complete waste of time. Shay had never tried much in her appearance a ponytail and her uniform were what Lily was accustomed to. As she read the letter from the obviously cheerful, confident she began to think over her summer. She hadn't changed much... To distract from her lack of excitement she strted writing back immediately.

Shay my love!

I have missed hearing from you! This appearance change talk is making me feel like an under achiever! My summer has lacked much excitement or anything actually. I stayed at Alice's with my parents for a few days, but you know us. It's more for my parents when we visit them in Godric's Hollow. I happened to see the four-eyed Quidditch player you mentioned while I was there and how many times must I tell you that James and I don't get along! We are not now nor will we ever be a couple!

I have to go now love, I feel like I need to rework my appearance so we can knock all the boys dead on September 1st.

Your ginger

(Who also has no clue regarding the date)

Lily

Lily tripped while she walked to the window and attached the letter to Shay's midnight black owl, Orion. Her mind began to wander to when she had seen Potter a few days back

"Hey love," James said with that arrogant smirk and sparkle in his eyes

"Hello," Lily replied without looking up from her book that she was reading intently on Alice Prewitt's swing in their front yard.

"I didn't know you and Alice were so close that you would be here over the summer, if I knew I would have been here more often." he smiled and sat down directly in front of Lily.

"We're not, well I mean we're friends, but well see," Lily breathed and gathered her thoughts, "Our parents are friends from when Mr. Prewitt was undercover as a muggle at my fathers work."

"Ah, how long will you be here my darling?" James said looking at her longingly.

"Don't call me that Potter." Lily retorted still completely absorbed in her novel.

"Whatever you say love." He said, when she didn't reply he started tracing his finger along her strappy sandals making her twitch.

"Stop." She said plainly still wincing from his finger.

"Aww come on Lily you know I'm not a bad guy! Why don't we just go down to the lake by my house and talk? I promise I won't be a jerk."

"Please go away Potter, you are a bad guy and I don't want to talk to you anymore." Lily stated finally letting her eyes fall on him.

This was her mistake, James Potter was in no way ugly. His hair, his glasses, his body were enough to make Lily want to fall into his arms like some damsel in distress. Her momentary lapse of judgment resulted in her leaning forward slightly and falling off the swing. Landing on James.

"Cant keep your hands off me can you Evans?" James said laughing and holding Lily on top of him.

"Keep dreaming Potter, I will never be your girlfriend." She retorted trying to break free.

"Come on Lils, one kiss? You can't deny this right here feels... right" he said breathing into her ear making chills go down her spine.

"This doesn't feel right! In being held against my will on top of you! On my parents friends front porch! Please let me go!" she wailed, all he did was smile and stare into her clear green eyes.

"There," he said flipping so he was pinning her down underneath him, "Now I'm on top of you."

Lily was now desperate to get out of this unfamiliar position. A plan popped into her head and although she would probably regret it, using feminine charm was one way to go.

"James," she said dragging out his name in the sexiest tone she could muster up.

"Yes," he said trying to keep his voice from cracking with excitement, but Lily heard it catch.

"Please," she said now dragging her toe in circles against his calf, "let me go"

"I'll never let you go Lily-flower" he breathed less than an inch from her face, "but nice try."

"James! Get. Off. Me. Now!" Lily said losing her patience.

"Fine." he agreed letting go of her wrists pouting.

"My god!" Lily muttered exasperately getting up and dusting off her shorts.

"Hey Evans!" James called before she went back inside the house. She turned scowling at the handsome boy. "Go out with me?"

"Sorry, love." She spat sarcastically.

As Lily thought back on this she shuttered at the fact that part of her wanted James to kiss her, she silently scolded herself for letting him into her head she retreated to packing for her last year at Hogwarts. 


	2. New Looks, New Crushes, No Clothing?

_**Disclaimer!!! I always forget this partially because I HATE author's notes but I will write this once and once alone I AM NOT J.K. ROWLING…. Unfortunately:[**_

_**Enjoy my readers:] (all two of you! Thanks for the reviews but please is there really only two of you?)**_

Chapter 2.

Lily stood in front of the mirror wondering what she could change about herself before school. She had an hour what could she do in an hour? Dye her hair? No Shay would murder her. Get a little tan? No she didn't tan, she burned and a burnt Lily was not a good look. Makeup? Ok that's not too bad she was seventeen now. Maybe heels? She was tall, but James was taller. Gosh, she was doing this for James?! Quickly she decided heels and makeup were subtle changes and she could pull them off.

Using her wand she curled her hair at the ends, put on skinny jeans, black strappy high heels and dusted a bit of shadow on her eyes. She refused to put more on with the fear of looking like a slut, that's what the Slytherin girls were for. Smiling at this thought she put on a black sparkly tank which was dressy, but not too dressy. She couldn't wait to see Shay!

"Lily dear! It's time to head to Kings Cross! Are you ready?" Mrs. Evans called upstairs.

"I'm coming mum, I'll meet you in the car." Lily said grabbing her trunk looking at her reflection and smiling. Subtle changes seemed like a good start to her last year. As she ran out the door she nearly forgot her shiny gold pin that read "Head Girl"

"Darling you look beautiful!" Mr. Evans called from the car, "I can't believe you're seventeen! Are we really that old Lesley?"

"I shudder at the thought!" Mrs. Evans replied, "I will be Twenty-five until I say otherwise!"

Lily smiled at her parents she really loved them. Sometimes she tried to remember when they were a real family, before Petunia hated her.

"Is Petunia coming?" Lily asked hoping her sister had come around for her last year of school.

"I'm sorry dear, she said she was feeling ill. She said she would write you!" Mrs. Evans said sighing, it was a fact in their household Petunia did not get along with her sister.

Lily pushed this out of her mind and let it wander to other things. After day dreaming the entire drive to Kings Cross Lily jumped out of the car waved goodbye and waited for Shay at their normal spot at exactly 10:27, she was early! Shay would be so proud. By the time it was 10:29 Lily was worried, Shay was never, EVER late. Taking off her sunglasses she searched the crowd for the hundredth time.

"Lily!" she heard someone scream, she turned to her right and saw Shay. Except it was a completely new gorgeous different Italian Shay. Shay enveloped Lily in a huge bear hug and Lily immediately knew that this new appearance wouldn't affect her personality at all.

"You look gorgeous!" Lily said as they stepped through the barrier into the wizarding world.

"Thanks love! You look so grown up Lils!" Shay said. Once they found a compartment for them to sit in by themselves they started talking about their summers.

"Alright do a full turn for me, love" Shay said motioning for Lily to turn.

"Well, aren't you just beautiful!" She said smiling and Lily insisted she inspect her friend as well. Shay had hair that formed waves all the way down to her lower back and the waves were all different types of blonde low lights and high lights covered her head giving offer appearance of a very long time on the beach. Lily was always jealous that her Italian blood let her tan while she was stuck being pale.

The two girls were definitely beautiful, they drew quite a lot of attention from many boys from fifth to seventh year.

"So tell me about Italy! Your hair looks amazing by the way." Lily said settling into their compartment. They talked for nearly the whole ride about Shay's "transformation" and Lily's "blossoming"

"So we haven't seen Potter yet, that's a first!" Lily said as they neared the time when they would have to change into school robes

"You would notice," Shay said smirking.

"Darling, you do realize you have already mentioned Sirius maybe three times already." Lily said smiling back.

"Sirius is a pain in the ass, plus I don't want a boyfriend this year, and he was so mean last year to me. He humiliated me all the time that I would never let my hair down! And how I wasn't fun to be around!" Shay muttered exasperatedly.

"Who are you trying to convince dear?" Lily said flipping through a book she had picked up. "And that's exactly what James did to me! See why I don't like him one bit?"

Shay nodded and dropped the subject. "Changing time?" she asked Lily nodded and they faced opposite directions to change into their school robes. The Marauders of course chose to walk in unannounced at the exact time Lily had her shirt unbuttoned and Shay had nothing but her pink lacey bra on.

"Holy hell." Sirius whispered when he saw the two girls. "Look who grew up!"

"Black! You ass get out!" Shay hissed trying to cover her bra with her perfect wavy hair.

"Hello Shay," he said smiling and moving toward her to give her a hug.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed at him and kicked him hard with her high heel.

"Hey Lily" James said looking her up and down and leaning against the compartment door.

"Remus!" Lily and Shay screamed at the same time. Remus quickly came inside the now crowded compartment and covered his mate's eyes. Sighing apologetically he pulled them out of the stall.

"Oh my god!" Shay shouted, quickly getting dressed in her uniform leaving the tie a little low and not taking her heels off Lily followed suit and they found their way to the Marauders cabin.

Not bothering to knock they went inside and shot stares of ice at James and Sirius.

"You two are unbelievable!" Lily yelled mostly at Potter.

"Listen Evans we're really sorry, I promise I just wanted to say hi I had no idea you two changed in your compartment." James said earnestly, still blushing slightly.

"You look amazing darling." Sirius whispered into Shay's ear.

Shay promptly slapped him and walked away.

"Do you swear you weren't purposely trying to peep on us?" Lily said still fuming.

"We swear!" Sirius and James replied.

"Fine. Knock next time will you?" Lily retorted.

"By the way Evans." James said grabbing her wrist and pulling her against his body making Lily dizzy. "Have I ever told you that you're beautiful?"

"Yes." Lily said and walked out of their compartment.

"That boy is going to pay." Shay said when Lily returned to their cabin.

"I agree and I'm sorry I have to leave you dear, but I have to go see who I'll be sharing a dorm with this year!" Lily said smiling, "I'm Head Girl."

"I'm warning you now, I will probably be sleeping their a lot. Everyone says the Head's dorms are gorgeous and huge." Shay replied.

"I know" Lily said dreamily and walked down the corridor to the Head's compartment. The comfortable space was twice as big as a normal compartment and housed many more cushions. Lily sighed as she reclined on to a bench and lifted up her heeled shoes on the silky material. Te door soon clicked open and there stood none other than James Potter.

"Oh damn." Lily said.

"Hey Evans." he said smiling sheepishly.

"Well isn't this just amazing." Lily muttered and sent a Patronus for Shay to come to the Head's compartment immediately.

"Oh come on it's not that bad." he replied, doing the same thing for Sirius, Remus and Peter. "You could be stuck here with someone totally nerdy and ugly or you could be here with a Slytherin!"

Lily smiled slightly remembering her thoughts about Slytherin girls being sluts. James was ecstatic to have conjured a smile out of Lily Evans.

"Well hello Lily," Sirius said as he entered the spacious quarters and made himself at home on one of the benches.

"Hi Black, you do realize you have to leave when the prefects come right?" Lily said matter of factly and smiling at Remus and Peter as they entered.

"Oh please Evans we won't break the precious rules we still have a like ten minutes!" he replied.

It was at this moment Shay and all her glory knocked on the door. Lily opened it and Sirius' attention was immediately on her completely.

"See Black, that's called knocking." She said still fuming from him seeing her in such little clothing.

"Are you really this upset about it?" he sighed. She nodded and he smiled, "Well, I'm not as impressive as you, but..."

Shay hid her head in her hands as Sirius took off his shirt. Lily was sure she was blushing immensely, but her perfectly curled blonde hair covered it up.

"Now we're even." He said smiling and flexing his muscles, Lily had to admit he had a pretty impressive body. James saw Lily looking at Sirius and immediately grabbed her and covered her eyes sending them both backwards on the bench

"Come on love!" Sirius complained at Shay's lack of excitement. "You have to admit, I mean look at me!" he stated proudly.

It was in this scene: Head Girl and Boy on top of each other, Sirius Black flexing his muscles and Shay Jefferson looking bored, that the prefects walked in.

The fifth years looked awkward, the sixth and seventh year girls eyed Sirius and the boys all looked at Shay and Lily.

"Alright mate, shirt on! Boys stop ogling Evans and Jefferson now and if you aren't a prefect get out!" James yelled.

After Lily had composed herself and James had calmed down they talked about all the responsibilities of being a prefect, Lily was distracted the whole time however.

James Potter had been protective. Not annoying protective, sweet protective and Lily wasn't sure why she couldn't stop smiling.

"Remus has told me that I have to apologize to you." Sirius said sheepishly as he stood in the compartment doorway facing Shay.

"Its fine Black, I already knew you were incapable of being a decent person." She replied feigning lack of interest.

"Listen I'm really sorry, I know we aren't exactly best friends-"

"Or friends of any kind." Shay sneered.

"Well I wish we were." He muttered.

"Oh please, last year you teased me practically every day about how I needed to let my hair down and have fun and I was just some stuck up goody goody. You made my life hell Black!"

"I'm so sorry, truly. I know I'm a prat, but I'm sorry about well everything..."

"Fine, leave." Shay said sourly.

"You've always been beautiful. If we could be friends that would make me the happiest guy alive." Sirius said smiling.

"Oh please I spent my summer in Italy, I know when a guy just wants to get into my pants. Get rid of that huge ego and then I might actually talk to you."

"Ah Italy, well Jefferson you're talking to me now." he smirked and left the compartment leaving an extremely confused Shay inside

**R&R? Please? Is it good? Awful? Amazing? Thanks for reading I'll update if I get 5 reviews! **

**Love,**

**Anna**


	3. Hogwarts Where Everything Isn't Normal

_**This ones a bit short, and sort of a filler, but I don't want to be desperate and update everyday… I just have so much written I want to catch you guys up! I kind of love this story:] Hope you guys do as always R&R lots of love, Anna**_

Chapter 3.

When the Marauders entered the Great Hall ten minutes late all eyes were on them.

"Sorry" Peter muttered.

James and Sirius sat across from Lily and Shay and Remus sat in between them while Peter squeezed next to Sirius.

"So why were you guys so late?" Shay asked once they had the ok to eat all if the delicious food.

"We were just making sure we had everything ready for our first display of awesomeness." James said stuffing his face with food.

"You boys need manners, big time." Lily said to the four boys looking like starving animals.

"Were teenage guys!" Sirius whined. "We're hungry! Girls are the ones that are supposed to look attractive when they eat anyway."

"Sexist dog!" Shay exclaimed and kicked him for the second time with her spiky heel.

"My god Jefferson! Your new look is gorgeous, trust me you have already got quite the fan club, you too Lils, but please please I beg you do not kick with those torture devices!" Sirius said clutching his throbbing calf.

"Man up Padfoot." James chuckled.

"Lily kick him." Sirius ordered.

"Don't tell me what to do Sirius!" Lily said while promptly kicking James with her equally spiky heel. James yowled in pain and the rest of them laughed.

"Not so funny now is it Prongs?" Sirius smirked.

"Well, Lily time to go show all the little first years how to tie their shoes!" James said getting up and limping slightly. Lily punched him in the stomach and walked towards the entrance with a huge smile.

James couldn't help but watch her walk away with admiration. Her hair bouncing slightly, her high heels making her gorgeous legs look even better and the skirt seemed shorter this year and this made James almost jump for joy. He ran to catch up with her and grab her around the waist pulling her into the corridor where they had to meet the first years. No one seemed to be done yet so James saw no reason to let go of the beautiful girl who was barely struggling him his arms.

"Potter!" She said annoyed, but he could hear the smile in her voice. That was when none other than the slimy haired git Severus Snape appeared.

"Wanna make him jealous?" James whispered in Lily's ear. She nodded and that was when Lily Evans consented James Potter to kiss her.

They both enjoyed the kiss. Although Lily would never admit that after. Snape stared at the pair with loathing.

"Oi! Can't you give us a little privacy?" Lily said playing along by having her hands tangled in James' hair.

"Snape! Why aren't you in the Great Hall anyway?" James sneered tightening his hold on Lily's waist pulling her closer.

"None of your business Potter." He said gloomily and left the two still in the very tight position.

Lily looked into James' eyes and she forgot to let go of him. He didn't want to let go, so they just stood there for a while until they heard the excited first years walking towards them. Hastily they straightened their clothing and reluctantly let go of each other.

After answering all of the little ones annoyingly long questions the Head Boy and Girl went to find their dorm.

Unfortunately Dumbledore saw no reason to be completely precise on where the dorm was located. All they knew was that it was in a tower overlooking the ocean. Unfortunately there were seven towers that fit that description.

"So which one do you think it is?" James asked after try had visited three of the seven.

"Well let's check the middle one because the last one is the Astronomy Tower and it won't be there and frankly I think the other ones are too small." She replied and they soon found out she was right like always.

"Dancing fizzles" James said to the portrait of a hunter with a doe and a stag behind him.

"Oh my lord!" Lily cried as she stepped through the portrait hole. "This is beautiful!"

"Wow" James agreed.

The common room housed two desks, a huge couch and three large armchairs, but the most impressive thing was the view that you got from any of the pieces of furniture. The entire wall from the floor to the ceiling was a window overlooking the grounds and the ocean. Lily danced around with happiness and James retreated to an armchair admiring her carefree attitude.

Lily felt so at home in the common room with James she actually went and sat next to him. Surprising even herself she leaned against him and stared out the wall of glass. James happily put his arm around her lightly and breathed in the scent of her hair. Lily was so happy and she wasn't sure if it was because she had finally admitted to herself she might actually have feelings for James or because of the common room. A little bit of both was what she concluded.

The pair sat there happily watching the sunset and happy that they had one day before classes started. James and Lily stayed up late that night talking, about everything from Qudditch and how little Lily knew about it to how obvious it was that Sirius was head over heels for Shay.

"Lily?" James asked as they laid on the ground facing the big window conversing. "Are you asleep?"

When she didn't reply James picked her up in his arms and walked towards the dorm that read "Lily Marie Evans" her dorm was pretty, just like her he thought. He dropped her gently on the bed and stopped at the doorway to admire her beauty before turning towards his room and recounting probably the longest conversation he'd ever had the pleasure of having with Lily.

This year is gonna kick some ass, he thought smiling.

_**Eh I'm not sure if this was to OOC… sorry if you didn't like it please keep reading I like the next installment a lot! **_

_**Lots of love,**_

_**Anna**_


	4. A Picnic is a Good Place to Start

Chapter 4.

The next morning James Potter woke up to the sound of running water. He realized they hadn't checked if they had separate bathrooms. They didn't. Several scenes popped into James' mind as he realized Lily was in there right now.

"James!" Lily screamed from the bathroom. "Come here now!"

James obeyed gladly and opened the door to a terrified Lily in nothing but a towel.

"Yes darling?" James said smiling at her beauty.

"There's a spider," she wailed looking very seriously scared "And my wand is in my room!"

"It's ok." James said crushing it with his foot in an instant. Lily's body relaxed.

"Thank you" she said smiling, "I'd hug you, but I'm all wet."

"Water doesn't bother me." James said opening his arms and smiling widely.

Lily walked into his embrace and breathed in his scent. She sighed barely audible and James pretended not to notice but smiled into her wet hair.

"Ok out!" Lily proclaimed.

"No that's ok I like it in here, with you, without your clothes, its nice." he said slyly.

"Now Potter." Lily said sternly. He reluctantly went back to his room.

Lily came out twenty minutes later in a short dress that was pink on the bottom and brown on top, with gladiator sandals and waves in her hair. She walked into the common room to find James lifting weights. The way his muscles rippled made Lily almost melt.

"Hey Evans, don't you look gorgeous today!" James said looking her up and down before walking towards the bathroom to shower.

Lily looked out the window and debated whether or not she should wait for James. She decided she should and when he finally walked out she was glad she did he seemed to make her ten times happier.

"You take really long showers!" Lily complained.

"I didn't know you would wait for me." He said, "It's a nice surprise."

"Well, shall we head down to breakfast?" Lily asked standing up and showing off her dress subtly.

"We shall" James said holding his arm out for her, to his surprise she took it and the two ecstatic teens walked down the corridors towards their friends who were waiting in the Great Hall.

"Well, well, well what do we have here?" Sirius teased when James sat down next to Lily.

"Nothing that concerns you Padfoot." James muttered.

"Alright! Well kids what should we do today?" Sirius asked. "It's our last day of freedom."

"Let's go to the lake!" Shay said excitedly popping up from her seat and motioning for everyone to come.

"Shay! I haven't eaten yet!" Lily whined.

Shay sighed and conjured up a picnic basket which she promptly handed to Sirius to hold while she filled it with food.

"Happy?" she said as she grabbed the basket and walked out if the Great Hall.

"Come on!" Sirius cried from right behind the blonde. As soon as they all were outside Sirius tried to nonchalantly put his arm around Shay's waist. She swatted his hand away and focused on fixing her sequined vest, her dark blue skinny jeans or any other distraction she could find.

Sirius tried several times to be more than friendly and the four others were finding his rejection rather funny.

"Padfoot I think she wants a little space." Remus teased.

"Hands to yourself Black." Lily agreed.

Shay smiled her thanks to both of them.

"So how's the Head's Dorm?" Shay asked.

"Amazing" James and Lily replied at the same time.

"We can take you guys up there later, it's pretty awesome." James said quickly.

"We're not allowed to bring friends up though, remember it was in the letter Dumbledore sent." Lily reminded him.

"Oh yeah sorry guys, well it's that huge window at the top of the tower." James said pointing to their common room.

"Wow" Peter said quietly.

"Oh come on!" Sirius shouted pointing to James who had laced his arm around Lily skillfully when he pointed to the window.

Lily blushed and moved towards Shay. James shot death glares at Sirius.

"Oops, sorry mate." Sirius said.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I haven't exactly finished the homework from before summer break." Shay admitted guiltily as she stood up and started walking back towards the castle.

"Neither have I." Sirius said standing as well. Shay eyed him suspiciously and he shrugged. " I haven't."

The three marauders and Lily watched Sirius unsuccessfully try to make a move on Shay twice before they disappeared from sight.

"Poor Shay." Remus said.

"She likes him," lily said, "She just hasn't forgiven him about his attitude from last year."

"Well she better soon!" James said "Sirius is practically dying from love sickness already."

The group of friends laughed and talked until the sun started to dip below the horizon when they headed up for dinner.

"I wonder how Shay and Sirius are." Lily said smirking.

Shay was fed up with Sirius. Sure she liked him, she knew that, but he needed a different approach.

"Shay?" Sirius asked once they had settled into the Gryffindor common room

"Yes?"

"Did you do the Transfiguration essay?"

"You mean the three pages long one? No I haven't." she replied guilt evident in her voice.

"Good that means I'm not alone in my procrastination!" he said triumphantly.

"Nope, I'm kind of the world's biggest procrastinator" Shay said smiling at the boy.

"No that would actually be me love" he stated.

"Oh really have you done any of the homework we had?"

"Nope."

"Neither have I" Shay said sadly.

"Did you do all the homework from sixth year?"

"Everything but the summer work."

"I still haven't finished my first semester assignments from fifth year."

"Alright, you're the king of procrastination!" Shay smiled.

"Yes! Well, you can be my queen darling, don't worry." Sirius said winking.

"Do I get a crown?" Shay asked hopefully.

Sirius pulled out his wand and muttered a few things and then a necklace with rubies and small silver flowers appeared in his hand. He motioned for her to come sit next to him in the chair. When she did he put the beautiful necklace on her.

"Sorry I don't know how to do crowns." He apologized.

"This is gorgeous! How did you do it?" Shay asked in amazement.

"James' dad taught me a while back when I forgot to get his mom a birthday present. I live with them you see." Sirius said.

"Well this is beautiful. Thank you." Shay said, "Want to go grab some dinner?"

"Sure" Sirius said following her.

Once they were in the hallway and Shay didn't see anyone coming she turned to face Sirius.

"I didn't really get to say thank you the way I wanted to." Shay said running her hand through his hair and kissing him lightly on the cheek.

"Your welcome." He breathed trying to soak up her amazing smell, but she turned too quickly and ran off towards the Great Hall.

"Catch me?" she asked a twinkle in her eyes.

"You don't stand a chance darling" Sirius said mischievously running off after the beautiful girl in the sequined vest.

_**Soooooo what do you guys think? Thanks for all the reviews:] Some of you suggested longer chapters and I can do that the only thing is would you rather updates like once every week with long chapters? Or shorter chapters every few days? Also I'm going on vacation on Friday, sooooo I will update the, but after that no updates till Thursday:[ sorry but it will be very long I promise!**_

_**Lots of Love,**_

_**Anna**_


	5. Opinions Are Key

_**So up until now I've been updating every day… I can't do that for the whole story… Sorry:[ This is kind of a fluffy chapter hope you like it and I will update when I get back from the BAHAMAS:] **_

_**Lots of Love,**_

_**Anna**_

_**P.S. I just read the story like you guys are, on the site and it hasn't been displaying my POV switches so sorry I tried dashes this time hope it works!**_

Chapter 5

The first few days of school are always the longest, then there's some event that breaks the schedule and the year seems to really start. In Gryffindors case it was the Quidditch tryouts.

Shay was trying out again she had last year and made it, but she was still extremely nervous. Sirius was trying out for Chaser just like he had since second year and James was the captain.

Lily found that when she came to the common room after classes she almost always found James going over strategies. It was a mystery why anyone would spend so much time on strategies for a team that hadn't been assembled yet. One day when Lily walked into their room nearly sleep walking she was so tired she didn't see James on the floor and she actually tripped over him.

Lily landed flat on her back and it took her a few seconds to move again.

"Oh damn, Lily!" James said apologizing over and over again.

"Oww..." Lily muttered trying to move, "Sorry I didn't see you there."

"It's alright love," James said smiling and pulling Lily on to the couch where she rested her throbbing head on his shoulder. "It was really my fault."

Lily winced when James put his arm around her.

"Are you ok? Does it really hurt that badly?" James asked. Lily didn't reply immediately.

"Do you want to see Madame Pomfrey?" James asked.

"No I'm fine James really I'm completely fine." She replied after a minute.

"You scared me! I would have never forgiven myself I'd hurt you!" James breathed.

"Oh please! I'm fine!" lily said jumping up. She walked towards a record player she had brought from home and put on a song her parents had given her. When she turned around she was greeted by a very happy James Potter.

"May I have this dance?" He asked holding his hand out.

"Nope" Lily said smiling and taking his hand. "Sorry force of habit"

"No worries as long as that habit isn't really how you feel anymore." James said spinning her out and drawing her back close to him as they swayed to the music.

Lily smiled. It seemed like she had been doing it an awful lot lately James had that effect on her. Lily looked up at James and searched his eyes for his intentions. James started to lean towards her, his eyes flicking between her eyes and her lips. Lily couldn't believe it she was actually about to kiss James Potter, for real. They were so close, the music played slowly James' breath tickled Lily's nose and just as they were about to close the gap.

"I am the king!" Sirius Black shouted triumphantly from the entrance. "I hacked the portrait hole!"

James and Lily didn't pull apart right away and as soon as Sirius saw them he turned around.

"Never mind" he mumbled and walked out the door.

"Oh Sirius." Lily sighed letting go of James and retreating to her bedroom. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Hey Lily?" James asked just before she disappeared into her quarters.

"Yes?" she replied hopefully.

"Are you coming to the Quidditch tryouts tomorrow?" he asked weakly.

"Yes if you wake me up on time, you know I'll sleep in otherwise." She said smiling and walking into her room.

James fell backwards on to the couch ready to murder Sirius. One thing kept him from hunting down his best friend, Lily had learned in to. This thought made him want to jump for joy. Sirius would get it in the morning, but now James just wanted to keep reliving those few moments he had with Lily.

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The next morning James woke Lily up extra early which she was not happy about. She barely put any makeup on, she nearly fell over in her high heels and if James wasn't so god damn amazing she would have probably killed him for putting her through this.

"Lily!" Shay said running into the Gryffindor common room in her pajamas.

"Wow you have some pretty sexy pajamas Jefferson." Sirius said looking her up and down, she was wearing the shortest shorts he had ever seen, her t-shirt was very baggy and her hair was a whirlwind of blonde. frankly he had never been been so attracted to anyone in his life.

"Shut up Black! I need Lily I need my pep talk or else I'll suck at tryouts!" Shay said helplessly, "I hate that she's in the Head's dorm now! I need a pep talk like right now!"

"Ok I'll give you one" Sirius said smiling widely and leading her back to her dorm.

"I have to change so if you look behind this curtain I swear I will come in the middle of the night and cut off your balls! I'm very stressed and I don't have time for crap so please play nice!" Shay said before disappearing behind the changing screen.

"Alright so pep talk," Sirius said, "You are going to make the team! Yeah!"

"that's probably worst pep talk ever." Shay said peeking her head out from behind the screen.

Sirius didn't want to admit he couldn't concentrate because the girl he had loved since third year was right in front of him with no clothes on. So he continued.

"You're an amazing Chaser and you're gonna kick all the little kids in the ass!" Sirius said smiling, his eyes tracing Shay's body through the translucent screen.

"Kicking little kids asses?" Shay repeated startled. She was trying to reach for something on her bed but she was unsuccessful.

"I'm not looking don't worry" Sirius said grabbing the jersey from her bed and tossing it behind the screen.

"Can you grab the spandex shorts? Please?" Shay asked hopefully.

Spandex? Was she serious? She was torturing him that was it. He tossed the small black bundle of material at her and retuned back to the chair he had originally been in.

"Ok anymore pep?" Shay asked hopefully.

"You're going to make it, don't worry love." Sirius said before she walked out with a jersey on top of a black exercise shirt and very short spandex shorts her hair was back in a ponytail, but her normal waves were still visible after slipping on some converse Sirius couldn't take it anymore he looked towards the door knowing he would lose control if he looked at her anymore.

It didn't make sense to Sirius he had been with plenty of girls who were far more flamboyant and well slutty, but this laid back Shay just killed him. He wanted to badly to touch her and kiss her.

"So is that the end of your peppy-ness?" Shay asked batting her makeup free eyelashes and smiling at Sirius.

"Yeah," Sirius replied weakly, "Umm, Jefferson?"

She looked at him questioningly.

"You look really beautiful." he said staring at the floor. What the hell was this? Sirius Black afraid to tell a girl she's beautiful? He had to pull it together.

Shay was surprised how sweet Sirius was being. Genuine compliments are a girl's best friend and she was ecstatic to be called beautiful and not hot.

"Oh crap." Shay said, "Sirius I need your opinion!"

She was nervous to do this, but she was confident she could pull it off. When he turned towards her she turned away and said.

"Does my ass look okay?" Shay said smiling and lifting her shirts up as high and her bra to tease Sirius as much as possible. She was sure she heard him moan softly before she felt strong arms tighten around her bare waist and shaggy brown hair fall into her face.

"You look amazing, especially your ass." Sirius said happily.

"Well," Shay said turning around to face the boy who held her so tightly, "Breakfast?"

Sirius reluctantly let her go and pouted about the lack of physical contact. Once they were outside the portrait hole he decided they needed a little fun and he grabbed her headband and ran as fast as he could.

Shay was startled for a moment, but then she was mad.

"BLACK!" Shay screamed running after the boy, damn his longs legs she thought. Then she got the perfect plan.

"Come on dear, I know you can run faster than that." Sirius teased, then before he could look back again Shay had tackled him.

He almost lost his footing, but instead he continued to turn in a circle holding her headband just out of reach. That's when they realized they had ended up in the Great Hall, with all eyes on them. Shay quickly jumped off of Sirius and jumped up and grabbed her headband out of his hand. They walked quietly to their seats and started eating.

"So what was that-" Remus asked.

"We're not talking about it." Shay said firmly and walked out with a piece of bacon in her hand toward the Quidditch Pitch.

Sirius smiled happily after her and for once grabbed only three pieces of toast before following her, leaving an extremely confused James, Lily, Remus and Peter at the table.

"Shay," Sirius called after her jogging to catch up, "Sorry about stealing your headband, and embarrassing you and giving the world's worst pep talk."

Shay smiled he really was something.

"Darling, it's fine and I think your opinion was rather helpful." she said smirking and walking faster.

"Ok so want to have a picnic?" Sirius suggested. "James isn't even here yet we're really early and you barely ate anything!"

"I don't remember the last time I ate a real breakfast." Shay said sighing and jogging now to warm up her long legs.

"What?! Woman breakfast is important!" Sirius shouted jogging with her while devouring his second piece of toast.

"Don't preach to me Black, I'm a girl it's hard to maintain this," Shay said gesturing to her skinny yet curvy body, "With three big meals a day."

"Well, you know I do love that," Sirius said placing his hands on her hips she swatted them away.

"Hands to yourself Black."

"Says the girl who asked my opinion on her ass!"

"You were playing Lily, I needed a second opinion." Shay said with a twinkle in her hazel eyes.

"Alright, anyway," Sirius said remembering what he had been saying, "I do love that, however breakfast is important. Here I care about you so much I will actually give you what's left of my last piece of toast."

"Oh you care about me that much?" Shay said flatly, handing him back the toast, "And I know that you will be a prat until lunch if you don't eat enough."

"Alright, alright, but for lunch I'm making you lunch and we're having a picnic by the lake to celebrate food." Sirius stated and started jogging in place just as the rest of the gang showed up.

"Alright!" James shouted above the noise of the crowd, "If you're not in Gryffindor, you can't play Quidditch or any other stupid reason your here leave now! Otherwise good luck!"

Lily sat in the stands next to Remus and Peter. The three of them cheered every time Sirius or Shay scored. They both made all the shots and by the time the tryouts were done even the moral support was tired.

The tryouts had consisted of Shay nearly getting the wind knocked out of her from a second year trying for Bludger, everyone screaming and fussing over Shay and her surprising them all by have a perfect run anyway.

"You guys were great!" Lily shrieked. "Especially you!" she said running up and hugging a very tired Shay.

"Thanks Lils, it was a good work out." she said bending backwards ad cracking her back.

"Oi! No cracking!" Sirius insisted supporting Shay's back as she winced at his touch. "Is your back ok?"

Shay nodded grimly and immediately said she Needed to finish her homework.

"But what about our picnic?" Sirius asked weakly.

"Later? I'm sorry I have lots of- er work." Shay walked away clutching her back as the others stared, then she collapsed in the middle of the hallway and Sirius was right next to her immediately.

"We're getting you to Madame Pomfrey," Sirius said picking her up bridal style she clutched his neck and he saw tears build up in her eyes, "We're almost there" he cooed in her ear trying to reassure her.

"Poppy!" Sirius bellowed when he arrived at the Hospital Wing, "My girl hurt her back and she needs help."

"Sirius! This is a hospital you had better keep it down or else I will have you escorted out. Now dear where does it hurt?" Madame Pomfrey asked putting her full attention on Shay.

After an hour of Shay wincing at every touch and Sirius wincing at her pain Madame Pomfrey proclaimed that it was muscle damage and she would be fine in a few hours. Sirius sighed with relief and sent a Patronus to James telling him everything was ok.

"You were very brave love." Sirius said holding her hand

"Oh please. Nothing's wrong it's just the muscles, because I hadn't played all summer." Shay said dismissing the compliment.

"Oh just take the bloody compliment Jefferson!" Sirius insisted touching his lips lightly to her hand.

"Okay Black thank you," Shay said, "Sorry you had to see me cry."

"Oh don't worry about it I almost cried seeing how much pain you were in."

"Do you think I made Chaser?" Shay finally asked while Sirius was helping her up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room.

"If you didn't I'll quit the team." Sirius said solemnly.

"You don't have to do that, but thanks anyway." she replied.

"Listen sit in this chair and I'll bring you up dinner since we both skipped lunch." Sirius said, Shay saw his eyes light up at the prospect of food and she nodded settling into an armchair as the remainder of the pain potion started to wear off.

Shay was still a bit loopy when Sirius returned, loopy enough to keep murmuring "He called me his girl." in her sleep Sirius smiled and sat next to Shay on the chair and moved her sleeping body against him and whispered "You've been my girl for five years." into her ear.

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At the end of the day Lily retreated to a very comfortable armchair in the Head's common room and waited on the brink of sleep for James.

"Lily? How are you? Shay's fine." James said sitting next to her.

"Thank you, for being amazing." Lily said smiling and falling against his strong body smiling.

"Your welcome," he murmured kissing her hair.

Everything was ok, they all had each other and that was all they needed.

Too bad everything was about to get a whole hell of a lot worse.

_**This is the longest chapter so far:] I liked it did you? There's this little button in the middle that says "Review" if you could press it I would be extremely happy! Sorry about the cliffhanger I was going to combine two chapters and make this like 5,000 words instead of 2,500 but I decided to pace myself (I'm terrible at that! Tell me if I'm moving too fast please!) **_

_**Click Review Please:] **_


	6. Trauma, Tears and True Feelings

_**Hey all! I'm back from vacay:] I have to admit I write nearly the whole time… I'm a nerd.**_

_**Anyway! I wanted to get something up fast so there may be some typos forgive me! **_

_**Love,**_

_**Anna**_

Chapter 6

It was evident Voldemort was out there. They were only a month and a half into school and students had already received black envelopes. Alice Prewitt's boyfriend Frank had received one just a few days ago carrying the news that he no longer had a mother.

Every time someone received one the entire Great Hall cried with them. No one was alone, except maybe the Slytherins however that was their choice.

Every morning Lily worried for the mail. After all, all the attacks had been on muggles and muggle borns she had a good reason to be worried. As all wars go however life went on. October brought the excitement of Halloween, Hogsmeade and the Slug Club.

"Professor?" Shay asked one day after Potions making Lily wait for her.

"Yes my dear?" Professor Slughorn answered.

"Well, I know you said that you wanted Lily and I to help with the Halloween Ball and I was just wondering could you permit us to skip double Potions tomorrow to head into Hogsmeade? For decorations and everything?" Shay asked smiling as sweetly as she could.

"Of course my girls! You two have nothing to worry about in this class, I must ask that you bring Potter though I told him he had to help as well." Slughorn stated.

"Of course." Lily chimed in smiling with equal sweetness.

"Well then have fun and remember, you three have to come up with a theme!" Slughorn said returning to his work and dismissing his two favorites.

Lily and Shay exchanged looks of triumph as they left the classroom.

"You bad girl" Lily said once they were out of earshot.

"Oh please embrace my talents." Shay said.

"Being a spectacular liar is not something to be proud of!" Lily scolded.

"Oh just be happy Lils! I got you a date with Potter." Shay said winking at her best friend.

"He probably won't want to come, the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff is in a few days." Lily said absentmindedly.

"Oh please Lily! Any boy with eyes would choose you over Quidditch."

"Shut it Jefferson, Potter and I are not together, we're barely friends." Lily said dropping the subject as they walked into Transfiguration.

The Note:

**James you're coming to Hogsmeade with Lily and I during double Potions tommorrow**

_How'd you manage to pull that off?_

She was such a KISS UP.

_Hey as long as we're out of Potions I'm ok with any method._

I still think we shouldn't have taken advantage of him...

**Shut it Lily.**

_Come on Evans it'll be fun. We can spend some time together;)_

**Oi! I have to come too, if you two snog the whole time I think I'd rather be in Potions!**

_**You're going to Hogsmeade without me?**_

**Sorry Black you're not one of Slughorn's favorites**.

**I am I'll ask if I can come.**

_**I'm coming I don't care if old Sluggy doesn't love me.**_

**Maybe you can get McGonagall to let you go.**

"Minny!" Sirius screeched at this suggestion.

"Yes Mr. Black?" She said cringing at the nickname.

"May I please have permission to skip Potions tomorrow to plan the Halloween Ball?" He said as innocently as possible.

"No."

"Please?"

"Discuss it with Professor Slughorn." Mcgonagall replied tersely turning back to the chalk board.

_Well that went well.  
__**  
I will be there, I guess I'll have to skip.**_

**Why are we going anyway?  
**  
Decor, clothing, drinks, etc.

_**Clothing?  
**_  
**Yes Black, Lily and I need dresses, we decided everyone has to dress as muggles.**

_**Well then I am coming most definitely. Can I pick out your dress Jefferson?**_

**No**.

_Can I pick out yours Lily?_  
  
You may have an opinion on it.  
_**  
Why aren't you that nice to me?**_

**Because love, if you picked my dress out I would look like some slut from Slytherin.  
**_**  
How do you know James won't do that to Lily?**_

**Black you're not picking out my dress!**

_**Alright love.**_

0.o.0

The next day Remus decided to stay to keep Peter company and Sirius hid underneath the Invisibility Cloak as everyone headed to their classes.

"Are we far enough away yet?" Sirius kept asking.

"Yes you can take the cloak off." Shay said finally.

"Well, hello ladies." Sirius said smiling as he hooked arms with Shay and Lily and led them fatter down the path leaving James utterly confused.

"Oi!" James complained running after them.

When they arrived at the Three Broomsticks they were all flushed from the cold and laughing amiably.

"Rosemerta!" Sirius called at the pretty 20 year old witch who ran the pub.

"Sirius! James!" she said hugging them tightly leaving Lily and Shay a bit awkward.

"Hello girls, can I get you anything?" Rosemerta asked after releasing the boys from her arms.

"Butterbeers please." Lily replied smiling.

"Coming right up." Rosemerta said as she walked away leaving the four at their small booth.

"So Shay and Sirius go get decorations and try to find a band. Lily and I will go find her dress." James said.

"So what decor do we need?" Sirius asked taking a swig of his butterbeer.

"Halloween stuff!" Lily said laughing at his stupidity.

"Do muggles have the same decorations as us?" Shay asked.

"Basically, spider webs, pumpkins, bats." Lily said displaying her muggleness.

"Well, good idea putting us in charge of the muggle stuff. I hope we don't fail miserably." Shay said. "I hate being a 'pureblood' it's dreadful of you ask me."

Sirius stared with admiration at the girl, his mouth gaping slightly at her honesty.

"I agree." James said, "I hate to think that it's something I share with the Slytherins."

"Well, let's go then let's meet back here in an hour." Shay said standing up and grabbing Sirius' hand leading him out the door.

"Their quite a pair." Lily inquired.

"They're definitely something." James said taking Lily's hand and thanking Rosemerta.

After an hour of Lily fussing over every dress and James comforting her the pair gave up and Lily said she would come back with Shay. That way James would be surprised.

"Personally I have to say you looked stunning in all of those dresses." James said grabbing her around the waist and holding her tightly.

"Thanks" Lily said looking up at James and remembering the last time they had been in this position.

"We should probably find Sirius and Shay" Lily murmured, but the words meant nothing as James' face came closer and closer.

Lily reached up to touch his face lightly and draw him closer, but that's when they heard a scream.

0.o.0

"So do we have enough decorations?" Sirius asked casting a diminishing spell making it possible to fit all the decor in their pockets.

"I think so, we didn't find a band though, but doesn't Ravenclaw have a boy band or something?" Shay said.

"Yeah I'm pretty sure they do." Sirius said looking Shay up and down.

She really was beautiful, her hair was in its usual waves and her cheeks were tinged slightly from the cold. Her boots came over her dark jeans and her black leather jacket contrasted beautifully with her eyes.

"So want to head to go find you a dress?" Sirius asked hopefully eyeing her incredible body.

Shay could see the lust in his eyes and felt bad for teasing him so greatly. She really did like him she just didn't want to make the first move.

"Not a chance Black. If you had it your way I would come in a bikini." Shay said laughing.

"No I would say screw the clothes their a waste of money anyway." Sirius said with a twinkle in his eyes.

Sirius tried to catch her hand and finally grabbed her shoulder and pulled her towards him. Shay was startled at this sudden display of physicality. She looked at his clear eyes questioningly and felt herself flush at the intensity of his stare. She was almost certain he started to lean in, but that's when a blood curdling scream sounded from up the street and in no time they were surrounded.

"Stupefy!" Shay screamed at the nearest hooded figure.

"Petrificus totalus!" Sirius yelled kicking into gear.

James and Lily joined in as soon as they found their way. The fight was hard and long. Where were the aurors? Lily had endured the Cruciatus Curse twice already and after a third blow she crumpled in a heap as James tried his hardestto shield her from any further damage.

Sirius and Shay quickly realized they wouldn't survive much longer if they couldn't find help. Everyone in Hogsmeade seemed to have either fallen unconcious or retreated. Sirius was knocked to the ground countless times and Shay had a killing curse barely miss her more than once.

When the aurors finally arrived the only one still concious was James.

0.o.0

Dumbledore was furious at how long it took for the Ministry to be contacted. He wouldn't have his students being murdered because of a lack of help, actually he wouldn't have his students be murdered period. He walked by the Hospital Wing that afternoon to find James Potter and Shay Jefferson awake. He smiled when he saw their hands intertwined with the two still unconcious. In times like this they would need as much friendship and love they could get. Dumbledore was thankful Voldemort hadn't conquered Hogwarts these children deserved to be protected and loved and seeing the teenagers who had already seen so much made a tear roll down Dumbledore's cheek.

At least they had love.

0.o.0

"Oh god wake up. Wake up! Please." Shay kept whispering to the boy whose hand felt cold and clamy. For the hundreth time she frantically checked for a pulse and was relieved at the slow beating she felt underneath her fingers.

Shay was a mess, she refused to leave Sirius. It had been three days since the attack at Hogsmeade and Lily had already woken up. Overall they were lucky to be alive. Final score for the seventeen year olds was James hit twice, Shay hit three times, Lily hit three times and Sirius at the shuddering total of six times. Six times. With the Cruciatus Curse. Madame Pomfrey assured Shay that after four he would have been unconcious and not retained as much pain, however this didn't make Shay feel any better what so ever.

After the third night Remus came and forced Shay to go get cleaned up and eat. Reluctantly she obeyed and found Lily and James huddled together in the Gryffindor common room.

"Shay, how is he?" Lily asked tentatively.

"Not- not good." Shay managed to stutter before retreating to her room.

"I'm worried about him." Lily said looking at James.

"I am too, but he's a strong guy he'll be ok maybe not immediately but he'll come around. How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Im fine thank you, having you when I woke up was nice." Lily said remembering how caring and gentle James had been for the last few days.

"I'm just glad you're alright." he said giving her a squeeze, "we have to go back to class tomorrow."

"I know I feel so behind, but it's like I've hit a barrier. Now that I know just how awful the Death Eaters are Divination and Ancient Runes seems pointless." Lily admitted.

"I know, Dumbledore has been sending letters about an Order he's forming and if he incites me I'm joining." James stated clearly done with school as well.

"Well, for now let's enjoy this." Lily said sighing and settling into his strong arms.

"Erm... What exactly is this?" James asked quietly. Lily blinked tiredly at him and traced his jaw with her finger before muttering.

"What do you think?" and giving into sleep in his embrace.

Shay descended the stairs looking fresh, however if you looked close enough slight indentations showed just how much she had cried over the last few days. She was greeted with hugs from her many friends as she reached the common room and silently started walking back to the hospital wing.

She stopped in front of the entrance to the infirmary almost too afraid to see why lay ahead. The thought of having lost Sirius was almost too much to bear, she knew how frivolous it was to believe in love at seventeen, but at the same time she knew she would be growing up faster than most.

Taking a long, shaky breath she pushed the large door slightly and walked in to see Remus exactly where she had left him. He looked disappointed to see her back so soon he must have thought she would be sleeping in her own room, well he was definitely mistaken.

"Shay you need to sleep." Remus said firmly.

"I can sleep, here." Shay retorted and returned to her seat she had vacated but ten minutes ago.

"No, I'm sorry, but we all agree this is too long for you to be here alone. He might not wake up for weeks." Remus cut himself off knowing immediately he had said the wrong thing.

"Six times." Shay said feeling another wave of tears coming on, "Mad-dame Pom-m-mfrey said people have gone insane from le-ess."

Remus looked hopelessly at his two friends, he had known Shay for six years and never once had he seen her close to tears. He had known Sirius as long and had never seen him look so lifeless. He knew what he had to do and he finally left Shay and Sirius alone, praying silently this wouldn't go on too much longer.

Remus wasn't the only one who hoped, Lily, James, Peter and most of all Shay hoped. No one quite knew what else to do. Madame Pomfrey was going insane thinking of something else she could do, but after the sixth day it was hard to keep up hope. Shay had been personally reprimanded by McGonagall for skipping so much class, and was finally threatened expulsion if she didn't return soon.

The group of friends took turns watching over Sirius. They never ever gave up their small inkling of hope.

_**This is SEVEN pages on word so please please review! I only have 15 reviews:[ I really don't want to update again until I have at least 20. I have so much of this story written, but I would really like to know there are actual living breathing people reading this:] **_

_**So please R &R it will make me a very happy author! **_

_**Lots of Love, **_

_**Anna**_

_**P.S. In your reviews tell me if you want me to have a chapter on the Halloween Ball, right now I haven't written one and I've just skipped to Christmas, but that seems a little fast… so tell me Halloween Ball or Christmas at James' house? There will be Christmas no matter what, but it depends if you want more flirtatious moments……….. soooooooooo R&R!!!!!!**_


	7. Reawakening

_**Hello my darlings:] I only got four reviews but I wanted to update because it's been three days and that's a long time for me! I know I'm an amazing person:] haha anywhoo hope you like this and as you can see I decided to write about the Halloween Ball thank you Colie 21for your opinion you were the only one that actually answered my question thanks to my other reviewers: I3Batman, GinnyPotter4evr, and Shroomy-eyes! Shroomy-eyes I read your review and it made me laugh so thank you! I love all of you and please keep reviewing!**_

The days dragged slowly and the nights even slower, Shay's light of hope was almost completely gone. Lily and James grew closer as Lily suffered from aftershock and James mourned for his best mate. Remus and Peter tried to stay by Shay's side as much as possible. Sirius was showing no signs of returning to the world of consciousness. Ten days turned to fifteen which turned to misery for everyone. No one was able to accept he may never wake up. On the seventeenth day however Peter came baring good news.

"Sirius, he's he's he's," Peter stammered catching his breath having obviously sprinted all the way to the common room. "Awake."

Unfortunately Sirius chose a Quidditch day to wake up so Shay and James weren't present immediately. Lily, Remus and Peter however ran as fast as they possibly could the Hospital Wing. And Sirius was definitely awake, awake complaining and yelling that he was fine.

"Poppy! I am most definitely fine!" Sirius screamed as his friends approached his sick bed.

"Good god Sirius!" Madame Pomfrey screeched, "You have been unconscious for seventeen days!"

"Blimey, it didn't seem that long. Anyway I'm most definitely fine." he said with authority.

"Well, I can't seem to find anything wrong with you so you may leave within the hour, but only because I am in no mood to be screamed at by a patient I have bent over backwards to tend to! I don't want to see you back here Mr. Black." she said and scurried away.

Holding her to her word Sirius was back in the Gryffindor common room before James and Shay were even done with practice. James was the first one back and he was ecstatic. After screaming like a girl for a considerable amount of time the two brothers embraced in a very manly sort of hug and smiled.

"So where's Jefferson?" Sirius finally asked.

"Well, I'd suspect she probably went to go check on you, she's barely left your aide for ten days." Lily said.

"Yup, McGonagall had to threaten expulsion to get her to come to class." James said wrapping his arm around Lily lightly as she showed signs of dizziness.

"You're joking!" Sirius said mouth gaping.

"They said, he's awake!" Shay said rushing inside the common room and quickly finding Sirius sitting in an armchair.

"Hello pretty lady, long time no see." Sirius said smiling widely. Shay resisted the urge to snog his brains out and instead sat down next to him and hugged him very tightly.

"Welcome back from the dead Black." Shay said smiling.

"A hug?" Sirius asked disappointment clouding his lust filled eyes.

"I think you've had enough excitement in one day, love. I'll see everyone tomorrow." Shay said walking to her bed without another word.

"Well, Lily I think I'm gonna leave too, wanna come?" James asked innocently.

"Sure," Lily replied sleepily. "Good night everyone, we're glad you're back Sirius."

"Thanks Lily," Sirius said, "What happened with them?" he added one the pair had left.

"I'm not sure they even know." Remus said smiling and offering Sirius some chocolate.

0.o.0

The days after Sirius' recovery resulted in a very happy Shay. All of their friends were noticing just how hard Sirius was trying for the girl's love. They also had seen just how much he meant to her and they were utterly confused why she was taking so long.

"Oi! Shay! Padfoot! Quidditch pitch in twenty!" James shouted the day before their first game.

"But Prongs!" Sirius complained, "It's raining! And I was in the Hospital Wing for seventeen days!"

"Man up Black," Shay said laughing and walking towards the dormitories.

She came back out fifteen minutes later in her normal spandex and jersey. Sirius was ready this time however and had managed to get into her room yet again to surprise her once she finished changing.

"Holy shit Black!" Shay screamed emerging from her screen and throwing the nearest hairbrush at him in reflex.

"Woman you take forever to change!" Sirius complained handing her her yellow converse, "We only have five minutes!"

"Shut it I'm not naturally beautiful I need my makeup!" Shay said rummaging for something on her vanity.

"You listen to me!" Sirius said pulling her by the wrist and pinning her against the wall, "you're gorgeous, always! Right now you're probably the most stunning thing I've ever seen and we're going to Quidditch!"

Shay was taken aback. Sirius locked eyes with her for a very long time and Shay was vaguely aware they would be late, reluctantly unpinning herself she quickly tied up her shoes and followed Sirius out of her room.

They walked almost the whole way to the pitch in silence. That kind of silence where you know you're both glancing at each other every few seconds, but you just can't pluck up the courage to say something that might ruin the moment.

"Thank you," Shay finally stammered once they had reached the exit out ofthe castle, "for saying I was beautiful."

Wow, Shay thought, that couldn't have been more badly timed.

"Well, you are." Sirius replied smiling at the incredibly brave girl, "Don't ever forget it."

"I won't." Shay said smiling. "So Slughorn asked if we should cancel the ball, I said we should"

"What? Why?" Sirius asked.

"Well, for the past month basically I've been busy taking care of… Lily and you and Lily has been taking the attack worse than you. She still gets pain all the time and we were the ones planning the ball." Shay said sadly.

"What if James, Remus, Peter and I planned the ball?" Sirius asked hopefully.

"Oh lord" Shay moaned, "You four have no sense of decoration and I doubt you can manage the money and get everything."

"We can do it I promise it will be amazing" Sirius said, "We deserve something fun don't you think?"

"Yes, I do, I miss being happy" Shay said.

"I'm happy, I'm so happy that I'm alive, and I'm here with all the people I love" Sirius said, "I sound so queer, sorry."

"Oh please you deserve to be happy love" Shay said running to grab her broom and push off into the sky.

After an extremely long and cold and wet practice a very grumpy Gryffindor Quidditch team hit the showers. Shay put her tangled hair in a mess of curls on her head and headed out to find Sirius. She wanted to go to the kitchens and Sirius would know how to get there without getting caught.

He crept up behind her and grabbed her around the waist speaking her thoughts by saying.

"We're having that picnic now."

"Kitchens?" Shay asked.

"Most definitely" he responded and they walked happily out of the rain.

"So tell me, how did you manage to survive completely unharmed from SIX cruciatus curses?" Shay finally asked once Sirius started helping the house elves cook.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure, there was this, now don't laugh," Sirius said eyeing her, "Presence that was always there on my hand I think and that little bit of the real world sort of brought me through it."

Shay blushed. She knew exactly what or who that presence had been, but she didn't need him to know that.

"A presence eh?" Shay asked skeptically.

"Ya a presence with tons of blonde hair and curves." he said smirking at her surprise, "Oh yeah I knew it was you."

"You knew this whole time? About the threat of expulsion and everything?" Shay asked sheepishly.

"Yes, that was pretty amazing of you to do. Thank you." he said earnestly setting a plate of lasagna in front of her

"Italian." Shay said smiling and digging in, "Sirius this is really good!"

"Don't sound so surprised!" Sirius said laughing, "So, ten days, you must really have it bad for me."

"Oh please, we're really close..." Shay said.

"Close... What? What are we Jefferson?" he asked interested.

"We... Black... are," Shay paused and avoided his eyes, "...people."

"People? Now Jefferson that's not exactly what I meant." Sirius said enjoying every minute of this.

"Well," Shay said finishing her lasagna, "I'm really tired. Thanks for the food!"

"Whoa! Wait, Jefferson. Do you think maybe sometime we could do this again?" Sirius asked hopefully.

"Well, seeing as I didn't have a terrible time," Shay said smiling widely, "I think that can be arranged."

"Great! I'll see you at the game tomorrow then?" Sirius said.

"Yes you will." Shay said and moved close to Sirius, he towered a good four inches above her and she looked into his deep blue eyes with happiness. Sirius froze so Shay planted a kiss on his cheek rather then his lips. A bit disappointed and bewildered Shay left for her dorm. Her figure slipped out of the entrance to the kitchens and Sirius regained the ability to move.

"PRONGS!" Sirius shouted as soon as he muttered the Head's password.

"Padfoot for the love of god!" James yelled and Sirius looked to see James and Lily settled very close to each other on the couch.

"Fine! I'll turn around you two kiss, you get ten seconds! Then sorry Lily I need James." Sirius said.

"Fine. What do you need Padfoot?" James said reluctantly.

"Not with her here." Sirius said motioning to Lily.

"You are not in a position to be choosing! Now what is so important." Lily said.

"Well," Sirus sighed and then recounted his entire time with Shay before finishing with, "And I don't know what happened, but I was so scared to kiss her! It's like she's too good for me!"

"Blonde wavy hair and curves?" Lily repeated disgusted. "You pig!"

"Hush, I need help! Lily I got nervous! I'm Sirius Black for the love of all things that taste good!" Sirius whined.

"Well, I have to say I'm proud of you Pads, you might actually be experiencing emotions, you know that aren't coming directly from your pants." James said. Lily laughed.

"Listen everything will be fine, just maybe going slow is good for you guys." Lily suggested.

"Sirius she's not a slut, you're going to have to be conscious of the fact this won't be easy." James warned him.

"But it will be worth it in the end." Lily reassured him.

"Yes it will" James said gazing at Lily.

"This is... this is... god I just wish she loved me!" Sirius said falling backwards into an armchair. Lily bid them good night and walked to her room, knowing it was guy time.

"Good night Lily" James said smiling, she hugged him lightly and walked to her room.

"So, sorry I interrupted... again." Sirius muttered.

"You know, it's ok." James said falling backwards on the couch as well.

"God, look at what these girls do to us eh? I mean some ladies men we are." Sirius scoffed.

"It's a complete and utter disgrace that they have this much power over us." James agreed.

"Well, there's always the match tomorrow. I get to watch Shay just barely escape another injury every few seconds." Sirius said sighing.

"You really worry that much?" James asked.

"Mate, the most dangerous thing Lily does on a daily basis is get a paper cut from reading a book. Every single thing Shay does she does it without precaution. She's definitely a Gryffindor."

"Padfoot, she's the female version of you. Do you not think she worries? You got hit with SIX cruciatus curses don't you think that killed her?" James said.

"I don't think she has it as badly as I do. I've loved her since third year."

"Blimey, why'd you never tell me?" James asked a bit hurt.

"It was the most terrifying thing falling in love, then realizing she hates you and not knowing how to fix everything." Sirius said as James stared in disbelief.

"Oi! I know I know that's exactly what happened with Lily." Sirius said after being stared down by his best mate.

"Girls." James sighed.

"Can't live with em can't live without em."

_**Hope you liked it! Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please REVIEW!!!**_

_**Lots of Love:]**_

_**Anna**_


	8. Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff

**This Is a sort of a short chapter, but I'm putting this up even though I only got 4 reviews :'( cry cry seriously guys please review and to Colie21, lilyandjames101, cottoncandylover11, and I3Batman I love you guys so much! Thanks so so so so so so so so so so so so much:] hope you enjoy!**

The next morning Shay Jefferson woke up a very happy girl, she had had no expectations last night, they weren't even supposed to kiss on the first date, and it might not even count as a first date anyway. In her mind everything was fine, actually more than fine she was beaming with happiness.

"Do not make me force feed you love." Sirius stated handing Shay a piece of toast at breakfast.

"Ok, but only today, because it's a match." she said eyeing the piece as if it might bite her at any moment.

Lily and James arrived at the Great Hall five minutes before the Quidditch match was due to start. Everyone looked at them as they walked in and most of them smiled seeing his hand present around her waist. There had been a new closeness between the two, partially because Lily had handled being hit by the Cruciatus Curse so badly, but everyone had seen it coming long before then.

"Hello Head Boy and Girl" Shay said smiling widely. She felt Sirius' hand creep up to her waist and she silently swatted it away leaving him looking dejected.

"Hello Ms. Jefferson," James replied, "Time for Quidditch!"

"Yeah!" Shay yelled and happily walked towards the pitch with James and Sirius not far behind.

After hearing a rather awful pep talk from James, Shay sighed and yelled.

"Now we all love Potter however what he's trying to say is let's go kick some Hufflepuff ass!"

The team responded well to this and James smiled his thanks. Then the match began with Remus commentating.

Like at most Quidditch events Lily tuned out the noise and focused all her thoughts on James. James. He really was something, just that morning she had experienced some more not so plesant repercussions of the curses that still seemed to reverberate in her body and he had comforted her until she felt her normal self. He really had changed, being friends with him, hell, LIVING with him had shown her that. It was only December though, what if they were moving too fast? Was three months enough to show someone was decent? Lily pondered this and realized it didn't matter how fast they were going. Right now with everything being how it was, their three month friendship had withstood more then most lifelong ones. All that really mattered was if they made each other happy. Did James make Lily happy?

There he was flying, on his broom with the wind rustling his already messy black hair. Good lord he was gorgeous. Lily was brought back from her reverie by Remus' cry of "AND SHAY JEFFERSON SCORES! GRYFFINDOR WINS!"

"GO GO GRYFFINDOR GO GO GRYFFINDOR!" was cheered so loudly Lily was sure she lost her hearing, she quickly found James and waved he saw her and waved back motioning for her to meet him inside. Lily ran to the locker rooms and waited patiently for the Quidditch captain to emerge.

"Lily!" James called as soon as he saw her and started running in her direction. Happiness enveloped her body like a blanket as she was held in his arms and Lily made her decision.

"You won!" Lily whispered and threw her arms around James neck and kissed him on the cheek. James smiled widely and held her tightly in his arms.

They broke apart when James felt her sway slightly and looked at her worriedly. Lily had gone very pale and the muscles in her neckpopped in and out from strain.

"The pains back again isn't it?" James asked sadly.

Lily nodded with tears pricking her eyes. James pulled her back into his embrace and after a minute or so she relaxed.

"Want to go party and get drunk and forget this pain?" Lily asked laughing a bit while tears still rolled down her cheeks.

"if you feel up to it." James said she nodded and they were off to the wild party no doubt waiting for them in the common room.

The party had just started getting underway as the Head's neared the portrait hole. There were still a few stragglers trying to make their way to the festivities.

Lily smiled at James before going to congrtulate Shay

"What the bloody hell was that?" Sirius asked astonished.

"A smile, from the girl I've been trying to land for six years." James said before adding, "She kissed me on the cheek, willingly!"

"Congrats man" Sirius said slapping him on the back.

"So where's your girl? She did win us the game." James said.

"Well, she was next to me a second ago, but right now about every single Gryffindor is thanking her so I need to wait a few minutes." Sirius said pouting.

It turned out that a few minutes became an hour, then the fire whiskey came out and Lily made everyone under sixteen go to the dormitories. James and Lily were having an amazing time dancing, drinking, talking, tripping fromthe alcohol.

Sirius and Shay were everywhere dancing, screaming and of course drinking eventually James and Sirius ended up in the Head's common room wondering where Lily and Shay had ended up.

At about one in the morning Lily and Shay stumbled in giggling and tripping over their own feet. James and Sirius were depressingly sober.

"Hi love," Shay said falling into Sirius' lap and giggling.

"James! I missed you!" Lily said sitting next to him.

"Come on Lils I think you should go to bed." James said firmly, having had many experiences with hang overs and drunkedness.

"But, But, but! I'm not tired!" Lily protested taking another sip of the firewhiskey that Shay had handed her.

"Nope off to bed!" James said and picked her up bridal style, which elicited another round of giggles and leaving her in her room and retreating to his own.

"Hey Jefferson lay off the whiskey!" Sirius snapped at her when she reached for her bottle.

"Who are you my mother?" Shay screamed.

"Im the bloke who'll have to deal with your hung over ass tomorrow!" he said helping her stand up and walk back towards their dorms.

"Well, if I'm such a pain then why are you taking care of me?" Shay asked sticking her nose in the air.

"Because you're worth it" Sirius mumbled helping her back through the portrait hole.

"I can manage myself!" Shay said swatting away his steadying hand and attempting the feat herself. She was of course too drunk and ended up falling flat on her face.

"Are you ok?" Sirius asked.

"Help me?" Shay asked holding her arms up limply. Sirius obliged and steadied her.

"How much fire whiskey did you manage to get your hands on?" Sirius asked.

"Only a few... Lily and I shared... sixanahalff" Shay slurred laying her head against Sirius' chest.

"Of course you did." Sirius said chuckling and walking her into the girls dormitories, leading her to her bed.

"Donleeve" Shay said grabbing his hand.

"I'll see you in the morning, when youre sober." Sirius said.

Shay looked like she was about to cry when he tried to pry his hand away from her.

"Please Sirius" Shay almost begged and Sirius knew he couldn't argue with her. He sat on her bed with her and held her hand smiling at the drunk beauty. His eyes traced her body wondering if he should in fact give in to her demand.

"Go to bed Jefferson, tomorrow you'll kill me if I stay." Sirius reasoned.

Shay didn't pay attention to him and laid back on her bed just looking into his eyes,

"Please Siriuez." she begged pushing her chest out unconciously while trying to settle into the bed, making Sirius secretly go mad, "I- I have these dreams, bad bad dreams I used to have Lilee to tell me everythin was okay but now" Shay's eyes had become clouded with tears and one stray tear couldn't be contaied and rolled down her cheek.

Sirius wiped it away gently and held her hand tightly.

"Hold me" Shay pleaded.

Sirius obliged and took her in his string arms he was vaguely aware that her short was unbuttoned partially exposing her bra, he wondered how that had happened, but decided not to bring it up. Instead he sat there comforting her wishing she was sober so that that moment could have been real.

Soon Sirius saw he eyelids flutter and her gently drift off to sleep. He hoped the dreams she described weren't real, she looked to peaceful to be disturbed. He laid her tenderly on her bed and gazed at her perfect being.

It took all of Sirius' better judgement to propel himself out of the girls dormitories. When he arrived back at his own dorm he felt sorry for the terrible head ache she would be recieving shortly.

0.o.0

"Lily?" James called knocking on her door the next morning he had let her sleep in, but if he let her sleep after noon she wouldn't be happy.

"Hmmm" Lily groaned from her bed.

"Lily if you don't get up right now I'm coming in." James warned.

Silence.

James opened the door to Lily tangled in her covers with one hand on her forehead and mascara from the night before smudging her fair face.

"James? How do you get rid of hangovers?" Lily asked hopelessly.

"Wait them out unfortunately, at least it's a Sunday. Sorry I woke you up you must have had a lot to drink last night because it's noon."

Lily sat up quickly, a little too quickly because she fell backwards with dizziness.

"Ahhh James why the hell didn't you cut us off?" Lily asked.

"You and Shay left me and Sirius before we could" James said.

"Oh well let's get to breakfast then." Lily said sitting up again, slower this time.

"Lils, it's noon, it's lunchtime." James said chuckling.

"Sorry, this is my first hang over" Lily admitted.

James laughed and said.

"get dressed and I'll make you breakfast how about that?"

Lily nodded and ushered the boy out of her room. She closed the door and slid to the ground with it against her back. Was she still loopy from the alcohol or did James just offer to make her breakfast? Was that a come on? Knowing James it probably was, but he had been so different lately. What had happened before her run in with alcohol? She vaguely remembered kissing James, but it was on the cheek. Lily knew she was falling for him, but he didn't need to know that.

0.o.0

"Sirius Black!" Shay screeched as she burst into te Marauders dorm unannounced.

"What?!" Sirius yelled and fell off his bed in surprise.

Remus and Peter were no where to be seen so Shay continued.

"What happened last night? I was incredibly drunk and all I know is I woke up with my shirt unbuttoned and smelling like you." Shay said nervously.

"Nothing happened, you and Lily got extremely drunk and I walked youto your dormitory. That's all." Sirius said gathering himself off of the floor and looking at Shay for te first time. He froze. "Whoa" he said huskily.

"Wait why was my shirt unbuttoned?" Shay asked ignoring his tone.

"I don't know it was when you found me and James" Sirius whispered staring darkly at Shay.

"What?" Shay asked nervous now.

"Those are pajamas?" Sirius asked.

Shay looked at what she was wearing, her tank top was white and sheer and her lacey bra was visible underneath, her shorts were lacey black short shorts that looked very much like underwear. Crap, she had woken up in the middle of the night and changed, but she hadn't realized what she was wearing.

"Oh, sorry I got changed late last night I didnt even check what I was wearing." Shay said embarassed then she looked at Sirius and melted he only slept in boxers. God he was sexy. "What are you wearing?"

"Boxers, you woke me up!" He said defensively.

"Well, thanks for taking care of me last night" Shay said and walked towards him to give him a hug.

He tensed under her touch and she knew she was tempting him all too much. She looked into his eyes and saw dark longing lust. She knew hers reflected his expression.

"Well, I think I'll come back once I've gotten dressed." Shay said trying to get free of his embrace.

"Don't go" Sirius said softly, "I like what you're wearing."

"You would" Shay joked breathing in hhis cologne that still lingered from te night before.

"Please, last night you were practically begging me to sleep with you. You can't deny you don't enjoy me shirtless." Sirius smirked, he decided they should discuss her "dreams" later.

"Just for that you can't touch me anymore." Shay said and broke away from his hug smirking.

"God woman you're killing me!" Sirius said.

"How so?" Shay asked.

"Coming in here dressed like that, pressing yourself against me."

"It was a hug!" Shay said apalled. "Im sorry my appearance was so- slutty"

"You could never be slutty darling, I tempted you as well, I can see it in your eyes" Sirius said smiling.

"Sirius" Shay said dragging his name out and inching toward him on his bed, "You couldn't be more wrong"

Sirius let a small moan leave his lips when she started tracing his abs with her finger tip.

"Thats tempting isn't it?" Shay said smoothly.

"You have no idea" He said darkly moving towards her to touch er lips with his own, but she got up at the last second.

She paused at the door to say "Halloween's soon if you what me to tell Slughorn you guys can't handle the prep we can still cancel."

"No! Everything will be taken care of" Sirius assured her and watched her leave.

Sirius fell back on his bed in defeat. She was perfect, he'd known that already, but seeing her like that. Touching him, being beautiful. Why was she so damn hard headed. 

_**I really love the next chapter it's mostly the guys trying to plan the ball and you know being guys about it and complaining and possibly screwing it up…:] haha now I have you worried! Well I'll update just as fast as I can!**_

_**Again thanks if you reviewed and please everyone that's story alerting or favoriting there's a little button right under this sentence that says review could you maybe push it? Please? Love you!**_

_**Anna**_


	9. Author's Note Apology

_**Hey guys so I am so insanely sorry for all the typos and weirdness of the last chapter, I accidentally updated the wrong document…it was the unedited version that went up, so sorry I promise the next chapter will be up soon and it will be edited and beautiful:]**_

_**Love,**_

_**Anna**_


	10. Men and Planning Equal Disaster

_**Hey I'm back:] hasn't been too terribly long, anyway one person commented and said there isn't an ocean by Hogwarts, well there is some sort of water! And I didn't go and search where Hogwarts is and wat lake or maybe OCEAN so I just guessed:] also one person was wondering why James and Lily were so close, well idk how old you are, but when you go dramatic things with someone you sort of liked before and you're a teenager you get attached and bond quicker. It's just flirting right now anyway so its chill people:]**_

_**I love the reviews though! I love answering questions and hearing your likes, dislikes, loves.**_

_**I love this chapter because it seems so real I guess. I based this opening off of my friends who have had experiences with trying so hard to please girls they end up in crap:] hope you like it!**_

"Prongsie!" Sirius shouted at breakfast.

"What is it Padfoot?" James asked.

"Where's Moony and Wormtail?" Sirius asked.

"Right behind you" James said.

"Hello" Remus said.

"Alright guys, so I have something to tell you." Sirius said nervously.

"Oh god Sirius, don't tell me you had sex with Shay while she was drunk" James cringed.

"Oh Merlin, mate did she drunkenly seduce you?" Remus asked.

"No!" Sirius said disgusted, "I would never take advantage of her. No this is actually about something that I took on as a favor to the girls."

"What did you sign us up for Sirius?" Remus said sitting down at the table.

"We are in charge of the Halloween Ball" Sirius said attempting a smile. Remus spit out his pumpkin juice and James choked on his pancake.

"Excuse me?" James asked.

"I know I know I messed up, but I was talking to Shay see-"

"Oh Merlin" Remus said shaking his head, "You were talking again. Gosh you gotta stop doing that."

"Shut it Moony. Anyway they were going to cancel it see, because Lily and Shay were in charge and Lily hasn't been well and Shay has been so sad and not herself since the attack and so. I said. Wewouldplaneverythingandtheydidnthaveanythjngtoworryabout." Sirius said quickly and drowning his words with a gulp of pumpkin juice.

"Well, we better start planning then, we can't let them down they deserve to be happy again." Remus said.

"That's what I said!" Sirius exclaimed happily.

"Yeah let's go plan" James said disgustedly.

"It might not be that bad" Peter piped in.

Remus and James glared at him.

"Thank you Peter! It might be fun guys!" Sirius said hopefully.

"Let's go." James said ushering the group out of the Great Hall and out to the Lake where they would stay all day trying to think of the dream ball for Hogwarts.

0.o.0

When Lily walked down to the Great Hall she bumped into James walking out to the Lake.

"Hi, are we going to grab breakfast?" Lily asked.

"Lily I would love to, but Sirius told Shay that we are taking over plans for the ball, so we have to plan the whole thing in what's today?" James asked.

"October 25" Lily said amused, "And don't worry about it, can I hel- ahhh" Lily gasped in and grabbed her side biting her lip in pain.

"Lily!" James exclaimed worriedly touching her side.

"It's-it's nothing it happens all the time." Lily said biting down on her lip again hard.

"You need to go rest don't worry about it we'll plan everything and it will be amazing." James promised clutching Lily's other hand. Lily smiled weakly and walked back towards the common room.

"Now look who promised!" Sirius said triumphantly smirking.

"Shut it Black she's injured and just because you're some kind of super human when recovering from an attack, Lily's fragile and she isn't doing well! So yes we are going to plan this ball and it's going to be perfect!" James declared.

0.o.0

"We're screwed" James said falling backwards defeated.

"How do girls do this?" Sirius asked no one in particular as the Marauders huddled around the papers they had spread out on the grass by the lake.

"There are so many different themes" Remus whined. "Can't I manage money or something not creative?"

"No Lily and Shay already did all that" James said.

"We could just do a normal Halloween party" Peter suggested.

"That's what they had planned, but it's different now. It's almost like it needs to be more meaningful than just another party." Sirius said. "It should be like a snapshot of everything we've been through."

The boys sat in silence, contemplating how to achieve perfection.

"I know what to do" James said smiling.

0.o.0

"Can't you please tell us a little bit about what the theme is or the decorations?" Lily begged.

"No, but we need lots and lots of pictures so I hope you like modeling and go tell the seventh year girls to come to the lake to get their picture taken." Sirius said excitedly.

"A photo shoot?" Shay asked. "I am so worried."

"Have a little faith love" Sirius said. "Come on this year the ball is only for seventh years so our theme fits perfectly, I think you might just kiss me you'll be so impressed."

"Keep dreaming" Shay muttered going into the girls dormitories to tell everyone the news.

0.o.0

"Alright now these pictures need to capture all of the friendship and love at Hogwarts! So if you're in a relationship boyfriends and girlfriends or boyfriends and boyfriends or vice versa we won't judge, get a picture together." Sirius said. "Also get one with your best mates; just be happy!"

"Alright Lily and Shay you're up first." James said ushering them to a spot near the big oak tree.

Remus, the photographer, took tons of pictures of Lily and Shay. They were jumping and hugging and laughing. Then Shay went and grabbed Sirius and pulled him into the shots. Lily migrated to behind the scenes and watched as Sirius held Shay from behind and carried her bridal style. None of them had ever seen either of them so happy. It was almost as if the camera took away all of the troubles that weighed down on their shoulders.

"Alright Prongs and Lily's turn!" Shay said after Sirius and Shay had posed for a good amount of photos.

Lily took James' hand and pulled him out to the designated photo taking spot. They danced, posed, laughed and they ended up with James behind Lily and he had his hands around her waist.

"Okay last shot" Remus said.

James leaned in and kissed her gently on the cheek just as the flash went off. Lily just smiled and showed no signs of surprise, neither did their fellow seventh years, save Shay and Sirius, didn't seem to notice they were all discussing who to take pictures with.

"Wow" James breathed as Lily leaned her head back against his chest.

"Sorry I was in the moment." James said blushing.

"Don't apologize" Lily said happily.

"Well let's let everyone else take pictures." James suggested leading Lily back to their friends.

Shay and Sirius were smiling like idiots when James and Lily approached.

"Please don't be a girl about this Padfoot." James pleaded.

"I have said nothing" Sirius replied still smiling.

"Lily Lily Lily! In the name of Merlin's pants why didn't you tell us you guys are together?" Shay asked.

"We weren't- aren't" James said.

"That was just sort of spur of the moment" Lily said.

"That's so romantic!" Shay and Sirius gushed at the same time.

"Come on let's get one of all of us!" James said changing the subject, "Alice? Can you take the picture please?"

"Sure you guys" Alice said.

"Come on Remus, Peter you too!" Lily said.

"Smile!" Alice said.

0.o.0

"Alright, after eight hours of taking every seventh year's picture. We have the shuddering total of 23,456 photos." Remus said.

"Holy hell, Remus why'd you take so many photos?" Sirius asked.

"Lets limit it to one photo per group and one per couple." James suggested.

"Okay James, Sirius pick yours and Peter and I will start on everyone else's." Remus said handing James and Sirius their stacks of photos.

"Don't forget the one of just us Marauders and the one with Lily and Shay." James reminded them.

"We know just pick your photos!" Remus said.

"Well, I wonder which one James will pick" Sirius teased.

"Maybe I don't want to display that to the whole school" James said trying to keep a straight face, but when he locked eyes with Sirius they burst out laughing.

"Which one are you going to pick of you and Shay?" James asked after regaining self control.

"She would kill me if I picked without her, oh right on cue darling" Sirius said smiling as Shay, "We have to pick a photo of us. I'm between these two. This one we look sexy, bur this one we look happier"

"Let's pick both" Shay suggested.

"Can't only one picture per couple." Sirius said, "We ended up with 23,000 photos. I'm blaming Remus"

"Ok the happy one then." Shay said pointing to the one where she jumped on his back and they both laughed.

"But love we look so sexy and seductive here" Sirius said pointing to the other one where Sirius had one hand Lifting the shirt off her skin on her hip and the other on her neck and Shay had her hands on his chest.

"You tampered with this one didn't you" Shay said.

"No" He replied smiling.

"Rhetorical question"

"Straight answer"

"You can keep this one, but I don't want other people to see it maybe If you told me what you guys are doing I could choose whether I wanted to choose it or not." Shay said batting her eyelashes hopefully.

"Nice try" Sirius said.

"Fine, but we're using the piggy back one." Shay declared handing the picture to Remus.

"Well, I'm keeping this one." Sirius stated.

"Alright fine, but it never even happened! You most definitely didn't have you shirt unbuttoned and you didn't have your hand up my shirt either!" Shay said and stormed out dragging Lily away from James.

"Shay! I was enjoying talking to James!" Lily complained as she was dragged into the nearly empty Gryffindor common room.

"You know what I think?" Shay asked, Lily shook her head in reply so she continued, "We have let being friends with the Marauders take over our super fantastic gal time"

"You're so right!" Lily said in the same New York accent Shay had used. "I miss letting loose and not having a care in the wor-" Lily doubled over clutching her torso.

"Oh Lils, the pain still hasn't gone away? Maybe we should post pone this" Shay suggested rubbing her hand gently in circles on her ailing friends back.

"No" Lily stammered slowly straightening herself up and letting her body relax, "Come to the Head's dorm tonight we can watch crappy movies and sing karaoke like old times."

Shay smiled and hugged her, "I'll be there, I actually have to go to the library and study. Want to come darling?"

"I'll pass I think I'll go help them pick our more photos." Lily replied.

"Don't let Sirius tamper with any of our pictures please." Shay begged, Lily nodded and the girls parted ways.

"Evans is back!" Sirius shouted as Lily entered the Marauders dorm for the second time.

"I have been sent to make sure Sirius doesn't charm anymore photos." Lily said smiling and settling next to James.

"Damn that girl" Sirius cursed.

"Be nice Black!" Lily said laughing.

"Why are you laughing?" Sirius asked with a straight face, "Is there something funny?"

Lily continued to laugh uncontrollably, she tried to regain composure, but she succumbed to the laughter again when she saw Sirius staring at her with the most blank face she'd ever seen.

"I'm- I'm sorry!" Lily said gasping for air.

"You ok Lily-flower?" Remus asked.

"Yes" She said taking a deep breath.

"Are you done?" Sirius asked

Lily nodded biting back another fit of laughter.

"You're a strange one you are" Sirius said shaking his head and letting a small smile creep onto his lips.

Lily smiled widely and leaned against James placing her head on his shoulder.

"So want to tell me what this ball is even about?" Lily asked.

"No" the Marauders said together.

"James," Lily said smiling seductively and running her fingers slowly up his muscular arm. "I was wondering..." Lily could see the longing in his eyes as she neared his face and let her warm breath tickle his ear. "What the theme-"

"Don't do it mate!" Sirius yelled breaking James of his trance, "Shay does it all the time it only leads to disappointment and cold showers!"

"Shut it Black" Lily hissed.

"No way Lils, not about this. We really want it to be a surprise." James said looking deep in to her eyes and sending a shiver down her back.

"I understand" Lily said earnestly, "I think I'll go meet up with Shay at the library."

"Oh!" Lily said spinning around at the door to face the Marauders once again. "I need you out of the dorm tonight please, Shay and I are having a girls night, since you boys just take so much time up we never get to have fun just the two of us anymore."

"Of course Lily" James said smiling, "I'll sleep here no worries."

Lily smiled and left for the library.

"We are sneaking into that dorm tonight!" Sirius exclaimed as soon as the door closed

"That's stalkerish and perverted." James said disgustedly.

"So we're going" Remus said.

"Moony do you even need to ask?" James said.

0.o.0

_**Read, review, review, review!**_

_**Lots of Love!**_

_**Anna**_


	11. The Sleepover

"Hey did you get the drinks?" Lily asked Shay as soon as she entered the dormitory that had fallen into a hue of pink and purple from the sunset visible through the large window.

"Yes, I got the drinks" Shay said holding up four butterbeers and falling on to the plush couch. "Did you get the food?"

Lily fell on the couch next to her and held up a basket full of sweets.

"How did you manage to get that?" Shay asked gaping at the large supply of sugar.

"Well, you know how Professor Gastorn is so... large?" Lily asked trying to stop a smile from creeping to her mouth.

Shay nodded and laughed at Lily's fear of insulting a teacher.

"Well, she has the house elves deliver her three baskets like this once a week, and I was walking back from my failed attempt at accessing the kitchens and..." Lily sighed guiltily.

"You bad girl" Shay said sarcastically, "Lily Evans? Stealing? Have you recently been Imperiused?"

"Shut it!" Lily said laughing, "I was doing the Professor a favor anyway, it's really not healthy to eat that much candy every week."

"Of course Lily" Shay said smiling.

A knock sounded at the portrait hole and they heard a familiar voice call.

"I know I'm supposed to be back at the boy's dormitories, but I need a favor!" James Potter yelled.

Lily opened the large door and faced Potter who was leading a great black dog by a leash.

"Is there any way you two can maybe take him for one night?" Shay asked peeking from behind Lily.

"This is Padfoot" James said smoothly, "He's Sirius' namesake. He's my parents dog, but their out of the house for a few days and Dumbledore offered to let him stay with us for tonight, but McGonagall said the boy's dorms are too crowded, so..."

James looked at the girls hopefully.

"Is he nice?" Lily asked leaning down and petting the dog gently.

"He's the best dog you'll ever come across" James assured them. Padfoot barked in agreement.

"Alright" Shay said letting the dog off the leash

Padfoot settled himself on the couch and looked at Shay intently.

"His eyes are exactly like Sirius" Shay said incredulously.

"Well, have fun" James said leaning on the entrance way, waving as Lily followed Shay towards the Sirius the dog.

As Lily and Shay were playing with Sirius, James ushered Remus in quickly who went and hid under the desk at the far end of the room. After giving James a thumbs up he cast the Invisibilty Charm on himself. James put the Invisibility Cloak on quickly and shut the Portrait Hole and situated himself on a lone armchair near Remus making himself as small as possible.

"He's so cute" Shay purred, scratching behind his ears and touching her nose to his.

"Well, what should we do first?" Lily asked.

"Truth or Dare?" Shay asked, "Always a good starter don't ya think?"

"Alright" Lily said lounging on the ground under where Shay was sitting cross legged with Sirius' head in her lap. "Truth or Dare?"

"Truth" Shay said gazing out at the sky which was fading from pink to deep purple casting the room in shade.

"Do you love Sirius?" Lily asked plainly. "You make it seem like it"

"Yes." Shay said ignoring the head that had just shot up from her lap. "I do, but I can't let him know that yet. I don't want to be just another girl. I can't trust him to not hurt me yet. I wake up sometimes crying, because I've dreamt that he died from those blasted curses. When that happens I want nothing more than to have him hold me and tell me he's fine, that everything's fine. I just can't yet"

"I understand." Lily said touching her friends hand sympathetically.

"So butterbeer?" Shay asked offering her a bottle covered in condensation. Lily accepted it gladly. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth" Lily replied.

"Do you love James?" Shay replied without skipping a beat.

"Yes, I do and it's the scariest thing in the world. To know I have the option, but I'm not sure if I could handle it if something went wrong." Lily sighed; the armchair near the desk creaked slightly.

"Loves a gamble" Shay said sipping her drink.

"I'm not a good gambler." Lily admitted.

"Lils, James loves you and he's not Hogwarts number one man whore. You need to give him a chance." Shay said petting the fidgeting dog in her lap.

"Sirius isn't that bad, I think he might love you." Lily said.

"Might love me?" Shay asked, "That's not good enough. I need to know, I can't just put myself out there. That's just not me. I think he might just like the chase. The fact of the matter is we're seventeen, until he does that one special thing we won't know if it's love or teenage hormones "

"I think in order to find out you have to let him in, and I know that's hard since..." Lily trailed off knowing it was a touchy subject.

"I do not want to talk about that" Shay declared, "Its my turn now, I choose dare"

"Alright" Lily said mischievously "I dare you to go pole dance and take a picture and then give it to Sirius."

"With my clothes on?" Shay asked timidly.

"Tank top and shorts are fine, I'm not that cruel." Lily said. "I have the camera by the way. "

"Great" Shay mumbled slipping her sweatpants off revealing booty shorts. "Why do you guys have a pole in here anyway?"

"Who knows" Lily said holding up the camera. "Now dance!" Lily laughed.

"This is so not funny" Shay said while she did her best sexy facade. "I'm getting you back for this Lily."

Sirius barked and the girls laughed.

"He really lives up to his name" Lily said, "He's exactly like Sirius."

"I know!" Shay said. "Did you take the picture?"

"Yup, my turn." Lily said returning to her butterbeer and handing the picture that shot out of the bottom of the wizard camera to Shay.

"Pick your punishment love" Shay smirked.

"Dare" Lily said boldly.

"Pick your sluttiest bra and panties and bring them here." Shay said.

"Oh no" Lily said worriedly walking towards her room and returning quickly with a small bundle of black material. "Here"

Lily threw an entirely lace bra and a black thong with bows on the ground.

"Oh my Lily" Shay said sarcastically.

"Hey! Like you don't have something like these" Lily said defensively.

"Alright, alright. I dare you to write with love, Lily on the hem of these" Shay said holding up the thong, "And give them to James tomorrow"

"No!" Lily said.

"Lily you made me pole dance" Shay said.

"Fine" Lily said taking out her wand and writing in neat gold letters 'With Love, Lily' on the panties. "Your turn."

"I choose truth, I'm scared to choose dare" Shay admitted.

"Okay tell me something that no one at this school knows about you" Lily said.

"Ummm" Shay said, "Well, I'm um well Lils it's sort of big"

"Tell me!" Lily insisted.

"I'm an animagus" Shay said softly.

"Excuse me?" Lily said disbelievingly.

"Here just watch" Shay said standing up and turning into a beautiful snow white and tan Siberian Husky right before Lily's eyes.

"Shay?" Lily asked nervously approaching the beautiful dog that promptly blinked slowly.

Shay transformed back quickly.

"Ta-da" Shay said weakly.

"Wow" Lily said, "That's amazing."

"I learned it in Italy" Shay said settling back on the couch.

"Well, your turn!" Shay said after a silence set in.

"I choose truth" Lily said smiling.

"Were you and Snape ever more then friends?" Shay asked. The chair creaked again.

"Of course not. I mean I know he loved me, but well that's just too weird." Lily said shivering. "Anyway, until last year he didn't really love me and last year was when we stopped talking and then this year well James and I are... complicated."

"I see, I choose dare" Shay said.

"Go out in the hallway and kiss the first guy you see until he moans" Lily said giggling.

"Can we say that he has to be in seventh year?" Shay asked hopefully.

"Okay" Lily agreed and they headed out into the very dark hallway, so dark that they didn't even notice the black dog slip out behind them and turn a corner. Shay held her wand up and muttered "Lumos maxima" revealing Sirius Black with his back towards them. Shay sent a pleading look at Lily, who nodded her head towards Black smirking.

Shay walked forward and tapped him on the shoulder.

"What are you doing out at midnight?" Shay said with an edge of anger in her voice.

"Couldn't sleep" Sirius said coolly.

"Listen. This is a dare, so don't get any ideas." Shay said under her breath leading Sirius to the bridge that led out of the tower. There were stars studding the jet black sky and a cool breeze made Shay shiver.

"What are you doing?" Sirius asked feigning innocence.

"Shut up" Shay said and leaned up to touch his lips. Sirius knew it was a dare, and he knew he had to moan to make it end, but he didn't want it to end.

Shay's fingers intertwined themselves with Sirius' shaggy brown hair. Sirius placed one hand on her hip and one on her lower back. Shay tilted her head trying to illicit a moan before she fell completely head over heels for this boy. Sirius was kissing Shay with all of his persuasion, he needed to prove how much he cared about her with this one kiss. How she didn't realize he loved her he didn't know, but he wanted her to understand that he did.

Shay licked his bottom lip asking for entrance and he obliged. She was trying everything to get him to give in to her. He tightened his hold on her waist and she arched trying to get closer to him. Shay ran her toe up his shin and felt him tighten his hold once again. But he still wouldn't give in. Shay felt her self control fly away and she was suddenly very aware that every single inch of her was pressed against Sirius. Even the cool night air couldn't cool the heat she felt all over her body.

'Get a hold of yourself!' Shay thought 'This is a dare! Merlin why does he have to be so amazing? Why did he have to be the first boy we saw? I'm so getting Lily back for this. Oh hell why am I enjoying this so much'

Shay came up for a breath and moved to Sirius' neck. She hoped this would end the brilliant but scary kiss. She traced her tongue on his skin and felt him tense. He lifted her head back to his and their kiss continued. Shay knew she would regret it later if she didn't end this now, so with all the confidence she still had she lifted her leg around his waist and he caught it so she brought the other one up and kissed him deeply. His strong arms firmly held her legs and he set her down on the side of the bridge. Finally she heard a moan and she broke away gasping for air.

"Whoa" Sirius groaned.

"It was a dare" Shay said weakly.

"What ever you say love" Sirius said his voice still husky.

Shay realized they hadn't come out of their extremely sexual position. She hopped off the side of the bridge and hugged him before turning to leave, but she twirled around and walked back to Sirius.

"How should I get Lily back?" Shay asked looking in his darkened eyes, Sirius smiled widely and whispered in her ear.

Shay hugged him again and skipped off towards Lily. Once she returned to the dark hallway she found Lily.

"Oh Merlin, Shay." Lily said smiling like a maniac.

"I am going to kill you!" Shay whispered harshly walking back into the lit dormitory.

"I choose dare" Lily said, "I might as well face my revenge sooner than later."

"Tomorrow morning at breakfast you have to kiss James Potter on the lips for more than thirty seconds" Shay said triumphantly. "Do you realize how awkward it will be for Sirius and I now? I am so insanely mad at you!"

"Alright" Lily said reluctantly. "Your turn."

"Wait where did Padfoot go?" Shay asked. They listened and looked for any sign of the dog and they heard a bark from behind the portrait hole.

"There he is" Lily said opening the door and leering the dog in.

"Ok, truth." Shay said once they had settled into their former spots.

"Did you enjoy that kiss with Sirius?" Lily asked.

"You have no idea Lils, he was amazing. It almost killed me to break it when he moaned." Shay admitted. "You don't have to kiss Potter by the way, your first kiss together shouldn't be like that."

"Thanks, I choose truth" Lily said.

"How many people have you snogged?" Shay asked.

"People or times?" Lily countered.

"Times" Shay said.

"Umm... 26" Lily said sheepishly, the chair creaked.

"How many people?" Shay asked disbelieving.

"14" Lily said.

"Truth" Shay said.

"If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be and why?"

"I would rather be muggle born or a half blood, because being "pure" is something I have in common with the Death Eaters and I don't want anything that they have. They're monsters."

"Wow" Lily said. "Dare"

"I'm done with this game, I think we've dug up enough dirt do you darling?" Shay asked.

"I agree, I can't believe you waited until now to say you're an animagus." Lily teased.

"Hey so crappy movie time?" Shay asked.

"Most definitely." Lily agreed and laid out on the couch. Padfoot trotted to the door and scratched at it. Shay got up and opened it, but she didn't see anyone. Sirius settled back into Shay's lap and sighed content with himself, he knew either James or Remus had had enough time to get out. To verify his guess was a knock on the portrait hole no more than two minutes later.

"Hey" James said leaning against the wall when Lily opened the door.

"Trying to look cool Potter?" Lily asked giggling.

"Don't need to, I naturally am." James smiled, "McGonagall left so we can take Padfoot back thanks so much for watching him for a bit."

"No problem" Shay said leading Padfoot to the door. "He is so sweet!"

"Yeah, he really is a good dog" Lily said. "Well goodnight!"

"Night Lily" James said walking back to the boys dormitories.

0.o.0

"Wow" Remus said once they had all successfully gotten into their dorm. "Girls do some pretty crazy things at sleep overs"

"Holy Merlin Shay is perfect" Sirius moaned falling on to his bed and banging his head with a pillow.

"Lily loves me" James said dreamily.

"Shay's an animagus!" Remus exclaimed.

"Should we tell her we are too?" James asked.

"That's so hot! Why does she have to be so unbearably hot? Everything! She hates being a pure blood, she's an animagus I mean for the love of Merlin's pants!" Sirius moaned.

"I don't think we should" Remus said responding to James "Then she'll realize that we spied on them."

"Your right" James said completely ignoring Sirius "And we'd have to tell Lily too"

"Oh my god that kiss" Sirius groaned, "I wanted to rip her clothes off right there, why do I have to move slow?"

"Sirius do you love her?" Remus asked finally acknowledging him.

"Yes, so much. And she said she loves me" Sirius said suddenly smiling, "And she said she loved the kiss. I just have to prove that I love her, she said she doesn't believe me!"

"Uh-huh" James mumbled.

"Ok what can I do?" Sirius said, "I could get her something, or do something at the ball. Holy hell the ball! I have to ask her!"

Sirius turned to his friends to find them passed out from exhaustion on their beds. Such teenagers, Sirius thought.

_**R & R please! I got two reviews last time… that sucks so please keep reviewing! **_

_**Muchos Gracias!**_

_**Anna**_


	12. Best Friends Fix Everything

**Hey sorry for the slow update:[ I had surgery yesterday and so yupp. But anywhoo hope you like this chapter! The next one is without a doubt the Halloween Ball! And for those of you who wanted to know when the gals would find out they had been spied on... Don't worry its coming:] as well as more drama and kissing and all that good stuff**!

**Enjoy!**

It was Thursday when Sirius completely went mad. The ball was the next day and he couldn't seem to pluck up the courage to ask Shay. He had seen her the day before up against the wall while a hunky Ravenclaw tried to smooth talk her into being his date, but much to Sirius' relief, she managed to slip from under his spell and leave him stunned at being turned down.

That was the last straw. He had put it off long enough and if he didn't act fast she would say yes to someone else. Consulting James was always a last resort in Sirius' book, but since Remus had shut himself up in the library due to a test he had, the two best mates ended up sitting by their oak tree trying to figure out how to get Shay to say yes.

"Wait, mate how'd you ask Lily?" Sirius said after brainstorming for a few minutes.

"I didn't, she said before the attack even, that Head Boy and Girl should go together." James said smiling.

"You got off easy!" Sirius said with an accusing glare.

"Okay this is stupid; just go ask her right now. Look," James said pointing to the path where Shay was walking towards the Astronomy Tower.

"Okay. I'm going to do this. I can do this. I'm Sirius Black." Sirius muttered to himself as he jogged towards the girl whose uniform was disheveled as was her normally flawless hair.

"Hi" she said weakly, dropping her massive mound of books on the dusty walkway. "I'm running an errand for McGonagall."

"Here let me help you" Sirius said stooping and gathering the pile of about thirteen text books with ease. "I'll walk with you"

Shay smiled her appreciation and walked next to Sirius all the way to the outdoor entrance to the tallest tower at Hogwarts. After successfully completing the errand the pair walked slowly back towards the main entrance.

"Ugh, I'm a mess" Shay said fidgeting with her hair and finally pulling it back into a pony tail. "Merlin it is hot! And this is October!"

Shay took off her large black school cloak and white button up shirt so that she was left in nothing but a thin white tank top, her skirt and the red and yellow tie that showed her house allegiance. Sirius managed to keep a collected expression throughout this.

"I have a free period; want to go to the lake?" Shay said taking off her shoes and socks and throwing them into the pile she had accumulated, of discarded clothes. Quickly she shrunk them and put them in her pocket before even sparing Sirius a glance.

Sirius looped his arm around her waist and led her towards the lake, for once, she didn't swat it away.

"So the ball's tomorrow." Sirius said timidly.

"Yup, we should go together. As friends of course. Then we won't have to go by ourselves. All the guys that asked me were conceited and dumb." Shay said squashing Sirius a bit at the "as friends" part.

"Yeah" Sirius said collecting his jumbled thoughts and standing, "I- I have to go. I'll see you at the ball, darling."

Shay waved to him as he left and as soon as his form disappeared into the castle Shay buried her head in her hands and shook her head.

'What did I do?' she thought hopelessly.

0.o.0

"You told Sirius you wanted to go as friends?" Lily asked disbelievingly. "You are so not smart my dear!"

"Please just help me Lils!" Shay begged.

"What should I do?" Lily asked.

"Talk to James and devise a plan or something! Anything!"

"What could we say? Sirius, you should ask Shay to go as your date even though she already said you should go as friends?" Lily said sarcastically.

"Yes! Thank you that's perfect!" Shay said.

Lily sighed and turned to walk out of the dormitory. She walked towards the Great Hall where the boys were sure to be, it being dinnertime.

"James, may I please talk to you?" Lily asked putting her hands on her hips.

"Sure" James said and followed her out into the deserted entrance hall.

"Okay, Shay wants to go with Sirius as a date, but she was being stupid and ended up blurting something stupid about friends and us beingthe best friends we get to fix it!" Lily said with mock enthusiasm.

"Great, for once I know how to fix this" James said smiling widely, "Sirius will never ask her again, but she can make it a date by dressing like it is. And I know I sound a bit queer saying this, but the dress shows the guy her intentions."

"James you're a genius" Lily said jumping excitedly and hugging him. "So what kind of dress would the girl have to wear for the boy to be under her spell?" Lily asked with a mischievous twinkle in her bright green eyes.

"I think you know, love." James said trying to keep his voice steady at her seductive lip-biting-ditz act.

Lily smiled and turned on her heel, tossing her hair over her shoulder as she turned a corner. When she knew James was out of sight Lily sunk to the floor and held her head in her hands.

"Holy Merlin, what the hell am I doing?" Lily whispered. "You do not love Ja- Potter, you are not attracted to him! You cannot flirt like that!"

Lily sat there in the deserted corridor wondering when she had become so hopeless.

Suddenly she felt like all the air was sucked from her body and she collapsed in a heap of unconsciousness.

O.o.O

Snape quietly came out from his hiding place to find Lily in a comatose state. He still held his wand, which had inflicted her condition, in his hand and silently bent down to brush away her hair from her face.

He hadn't quite planned what he would do after he made her faint, he needed to talk to her, about everything, but how?

Footsteps echoed from the corridor Lily had just evacuated. It was Potter. He always had to ruin everything.

"Snape" James sneered looking at the greasy haired boy standing above the crumpled Lily. "What did you do to her?"

"It's none of your business, Potter" Snape hissed glaring at him. "Go back to your precious friends."

"Lily is one of my precious friends" James retorted running to the unconscious red head. "I think you need to leave Snape."

"I need to talk to Evans!" Snape screamed.

"So you fucking knocked her out to rape her or something?" James shouted picking Lily up in his arms.

"I would never touch a filthy mudblood like her, I just needed to talk to her about something." Snape said.

"If you have to put her in a coma to get her to talk to you, you have no business talking to her." James sneered, "And if you ever, so much as look at her ever again, I will personally come after you and make sure you suffer great pain. Never call her that- that name."

"She's a mudblood, Potter. Face the facts, you're in love with a girl whose blood is tainted with muggle." Snape said and turned go sulk in a corner.

O.o.O

"Thank you so much, James" Shay said leaning against the wall as they all waited in the Hospital Wing for Lily to wake up. "I don't even want to think about what that little creep could have done to her of you hadn't found them."

"It's time for everyone to go to bed, dears." Madame Pomfrey said sweetly, "And Black, I thought I explained last time; I don't want you here anymore than necessary!" Saying the last part with a sour note in her voice.

"Sorry Poppy," Shay said hugging the nurse who for some reason loved her, "I think she's right let's go back to the dormitories guys"

"I'm staying here" James said.

"Alright, come on Sirius, Remus." Shay said squeezing Lily's hand slightly before walking out the door.

"She should be back to normal in the morning, Mr. Potter" Madame Pomfrey said, "Dark magic takes quite a lot of energy to recover from, but she will be mighty fine in time for the ball tomorrow."

"Thanks Poppy" James said as she walked out the door, he took Lily's hand. "Come on Lils, you can make it" He whispered before drifting off to sleep.  
**  
Shortish sorry!**

Umm like please REVIEW:]

Love y'all!


	13. Think Sexy

_**Let's not waste words on my rambling… so now the Halloween Ball... Finally:]  
**_  
Lily woke up the next day, just as Madame Pomfrey promised. She didn't even have time to thank James before Shay dragged her to London to get dresses. It was Friday and the Seventh Year's had no classes. 

The streets of London were stuffed to the brim with people, Shay dragged Lily behind her as she pushed down the bustling street. Every now and then Lily would stop Shay so that they could say hi to a seventh year they spotted. Store after store the girls found nothing, by mid afternoon they were tired, discouraged and empty handed.

"Okay," Lily said as they walked in to a store furnished in all white, the only color coming from the dresses displayed on the thin mannequins. "Think sexy"

"Okay, we're hopeless" Shay said after trying on three unflattering dresses, "Let's ask professionals"

"I agree" Lily said coming out of her dressing room in something that very much resembled an unripe pumpkin.

"Hello" Shay said to a girl that looked about their age.

"Hi can I help you?" she said in an American accent.

"Alright, I really like this guy, but we're going to this ball as just friends. I need a dress that will make it a date." Shay said fidgeting with her blonde hair. "Maybe."

"No problem," The sales girl said, "You too?"

She directed this question at Lily who nodded guiltily.

"Come with me girls" she said dragging them into the back of the store to the longer dresses.

"Red and Blonde." she said absentmindedly while fishing through the racks that were hidden behind the cash register.

"Try these" she said handing Lily and Shay dresses and shooing them to the fitting rooms.

"Oh my god you two are gorgeous!" the sales girl said as Lily and Shay walked out with they're dresses in place.

"I love it" Shay said turning to look at herself in the mirror at different angles.

Shay's dress was tea length and silver. All different shades of silver and black meshed together to make the dress fit Shay perfectly. It cinched at the waist and was absolutely gorgeous.

"Except, it's not sexy enough" the American girl said and went back out to the racks.

"Lily turn I want to see the full view of yours!" Shay said.

Lily's was gold and surprisingly it didn't clash with her red hair. The dress was short and flirty, but still elegant. It was strapless and was clasped right above her waist in a metallic gold belt. The skirt was pale tulle with gold print. It was positively perfect.

"If you don't get that dress I will murder you Lily Evans." Shay said.

"It is beautiful" Lily admitted.

"Okay, this is sure to make your guy drop dead." The sales clerk said, "I'm Lana by the way"

"Thanks Lana, except I cannot pull this off" Shay said. Lana didn't care and told her to go try it at least.

She stepped out of the dressing room and knew she found the dress.

"Shay, Sirius is going to die" Lily said laughing slightly.

"He is" Shay agreed looking at the mint green, floor length, open back, form-fitted, low-cut, but not slutty in the least dress.

O.o.O

"What takes girls so long?" Sirius whined as he and James waited for their dates in the spacious Head's room.

"Stop complaining Pads, they'll be out soon" James said, "Look there they are."

James was awestruck by Lily and was happy that they seemed to be on good terms tonight.

"Hey Sirius" Shay said coolly.

"Err- Hello" Sirius breathed. His eyes traced up and down her gorgeous body and finally found their way to her face which was fixed in a sexy sort of pout which made him want desperately to pin her against the wall and rip the dress to shreds.

"Ready to go?" Shay asked walking towards the door, revealing her exposed back.

"Y-yeah" Sirius stammered catching up to her and slipping his arm around her waist. "I thought we were going as friends, otherwise I would have tried harder"

"What makes you think I tried hard?" Shay asked innocently walking over to greet Remus who had the same stunned look Sirius had, but toned down a bit, as he hugged her. Sirius gave him a warning look and he let go of their hug quickly.

"So I think we're ready to see this theme" Lily said as all of the seventh years gathered outside of the doors to the Great Hall.

"Alright" The Marauders said simultaneously pushing the doors open to reveal something you would expect in a dream.

The ceiling held a star-filled sky and every inch of the walls were lined in twinkling lights casting a very elegant look on the tiny tables for two. The wire tables curled and twisted in ornate patterns making each table and chair individual. Then before they had finished taking in the beauty and simplicity of the decorations, all of the pictures popped up like thin windows all around them. Shay and Lily were so mesmerized as was everyone else they reached up to touch the magical little screens displaying the fragments of themselves. Then the pictures that had looked like confetti before aligned themselves into banners that draped from the ceiling gracefully making the setting blissfully gorgeous. Everyone was smiling and laughing and slowly migrating to their seats. As soon as the last person touched their seat huge gold letters appeared near the podium which was normally occupied by Professors. The words read:

Capture every moment of love.

Shay and Lily looked at each other and smiled. They boys had done it. Somehow they had managed to make everything perfect.

"And now the food!" Sirius declared and trays of food appeared on each of the small tables.

"How you two did this, I don't know but this is spectacular. So, thank you." Lily said leaning towards Sirius and Shay's table, as well as Remus' who he was sharing with a very pretty Ravenclaw.

"No problem, Lils" Remus and Sirius replied simultaneously.

"Sirius?" Shay asked after they ate and talked and danced. "Do you want to go for a walk?"

"Oh thank god, I'm not so good with the dance scene" Sirius said sighing with relief. Shay smiled at his honesty and walked towards the door.

Sirius nodded and lead Shay out of the crowded hall. They meandered out the main doors and down to the lake.

"That display was pretty amazing" Shay said looking at Sirius gratefully, "Lily and I never could have come up with something like that."

"Yes you could have" Sirius said pulling her close to his body, "You're amazing"

"Thank you" Shay said turning to face him, she put her arms around his neck and remembered the dare from only two nights ago. Sirius put his hands on her bare back and started to lean in. Shay tilted her head and brushed her lips against his lightly. Quickly Shay drew back and recoiled in his embrace, he let go of her looking utterly confused.

"Something wrong?" He asked suspiciously.

"No, it's just- I- well- cold" Shay mumbled looking up at the sky.

"Come with me" Sirius said dragging her into the Forbidden Forest. 

"Where are you taking me Black?" Shay asked resisting his grip only slightly.

"You talk a lot, Jefferson." Sirius said smiling widely and trudging on.

"If l get killed I will be so mad at you!" Shay hissed as the forest started to get caught in her perfect hair.

"Come on!" Sirius said pulling her into a clearing where she made out a small cottage.

"What is this place?" Shay asked.

"We've been making it since first year. When it's about to rain or we need to be away from everyone else we come out here." Sirius said flipping on a light and sitting on a corduroy couch. Shay settled down on a beaten up love seat across from him.

"Well, I'm sorry I kissed you darling, I forgot we were going as just friends" Shay said eyeing him hopefully.

"What if I want to be more than friends?" Sirius asked pulling her onto the couch with him.

"Then I would say you should have gotten up the courage to ask me to the stupid ball, Sirius" Shay said bitterly, standing up.

"I know I'm a coward, I'm sorry." Sirius said holding on to her hand and looking deep into her eyes.

"Oh no, no, no" Shay said shaking her head and standing up, "I am not falling for that, Sirius. Sorry, but I really have to go, just- sorry."

"I'm sorry I didn't have the courage to ask you, Shay" Sirius said his voice faltering at the end as he watched her walk towards the door.

"I want so badly to believe that you're a good guy," Shay said stopping at the door and turning around. "And you won't hurt me, but look at your track record." Shay said leaning against the door. "What if I give you everything you want and then you just move on to the next girl?"

"I would never do that to you Shay," Sirius said grabbing her hand, "Come on let's head back to the ball, you look too beautiful to be cooped up in our rundown little cabin. Don't worry."

O.o.O

"Lily?" James asked, "I know we're here as friends, but would you like to dance?"

"Of course" Lily replied smiling and taking James' hand. "I never got to properly thank you for being amazing about the whole Sev thing."

"It was no problem Lily, it made me sick when I saw him standing over you like he owned you or something. I wanted nothing more then to use hex him into oblivion, but I remembered how you always hated how I hurt him, so I just picked you and took you to Madame Pomfrey." James said twirling Lily. "Although I did have a strongly worded discussion." James said smiling.

"You're a great person, James" Lily breathed, leaning her head against his chest and moving slowly to the song.

"Thanks Lily," James said resting his head on top of hers, "You look really beautiful- you always do, but tonight you're especially gorgeous."

"Thank you" Lily said smiling at his awkwardness. "I'm sorry I've been so awful to you in the past."

"No problem, I wasn't that great before this year. But you know now I'm pretty awesome." James said smirking.

"Whatever you say Potter" Lily said laughing.

The song changed and suddenly they were jumping and screaming and laughing more than they ever had.

"Want to head back to the dorm?" Lily asked at about midnight. James nodded and slung his arm around a yawning Lily.

"James?" Lily asked. "Have you ever seen a movie?"

"What's a movie?" James asked.

"It's muggle entertainment and we're watching one tonight" Lily declared.

"What movie?" James asked.

"Moulin Rouge, it's my favorite and you'll love it." Lily said smiling, "Is there any way at all the two of us could possibly get our hands on some fire whisky?"

"That is actually easier than you would think" James said opening the portrait hole.

"So you get fire whiskey, and sweets and I'll get the movie!" Lily said running to her room leaving James to mutter summoning spells for the refreshments. He set everything out and went to change out of his suit.

Meanwhile Lily was debating whether or not to become a little more than friendly towards James. He had already proved multiple times what a great guy he was, he was smart, sweet, athletic, and extremely hot. Merlin, why was he so perfect? Lily slipped out of the beautiful gold dress and put on short shorts and a plain white v-neck t-shirt. It was a smart outfit it showed her figure without looking like she was trying at all. The white shirt was a bit see through... Lily decided against a tank top and used her long hair to cover the worst of it.

"James!" Lily called as she walked out to common room. "The movie's ready!"

"Coming!" James called and Lily popped in the movie, she suddenly realized that she chose a very sexual movie to watch. This would be interesting.

"Okay, so what is this muggle entertainment about?" James called from his room.

"You'll see, it's old France and there's lots of scantily clad women, so hurry!" Lily called.

"Scantily clad women! I'm ready" James said coming out and smiling.

As soon as he saw Lily his heart skipped a beat- or more like three beats. She looked completely and beautifully relaxed. He could see her pink bra underneath her t-shirt and her shorts seemed extremely short. It took all of James self control to not run to her and touch every inch of her he could. She was fixing the television so she didn't catch his extended stare, he forced himself to snap out of his reverie in time to register her jumping up and down in excitement about the movie.

"Come sit down, James!" Lily said laying herself out on the couch and gesturing for him to sit next to her. He sat down and put his feet on the small coffee table.

"How on earth did you find one of those televisionaries at Hogwarts?" James asked looking at the box that looked like it was made of nothing more than wood and glass. He had never taken much interest in Muggle Studies.

"Tele-vision!" Lily cried with a smile at his stupidity. "Alright, now this movie involves some adult content not suitable for audience members below the age of thirteen. Do you think you can handle it James?"

"I think I'll live, Lily-flower." James said laying back on the couch and relaxing as the movie began playing.

The movie was a rush of color, knickers, music and love. Add that to the amount of fire whiskey the two consumed made it a very fun event.

"That was great" James said surprisingly evenly despite the fire whiskey..

"I told you James!" Lily said poking him in the chest and smiling. She hadn't had much fire whiskey, but she wasn't completely herself.

"Well, night Lily" James said opening her door for her smiling.

Lily wrapped her arms around James and rested her head comfortably against his shoulder. She sighed and felt his arms wrap around her petite frame.

"Maybe this is the fire whiskey talking, but James" Lily started, "I really had a lot of fun tonight and I hope we can hang out again. Maybe."

"I had fun too Lily. That was a good movie." James said resting his head on top of hers. "You're pretty beautiful by the way."

"Thank you" Lily sighed, "You're pretty sexy yourself.

"Oh you haven't seen sexy yet my love." James said smirking and pulling away from their hug.

"What ever you say, darling" Lily said walking slowly to her bed, "Good night"

"Night Lily." James said turning to go to his own room and silently die of happiness.

O.o.O

'Oh my god. I can't do this' Shay thought to herself once she got back to her dorm. 'This will never work will it? He can't change who he is. He's Sirius Black, world class man whore. I cannot let him get to me. I'll end up like all of the girls that precede me. God. I hate that boy. Why do I love him so much?'

_**Dun Dun Dunnnnnn I know lame ending, sorry, very cliché, but it fit. Hope you don't hate me too much for updating slowwlyyyy but anyway please like review por favor:]**_

_**Love,**_

_**Anna**_

_**Btdubbs the pix of their dresses are on my profile if you care for a visual:] I know I love seeing the authors visions:] soooo…..**_

_**REVIEW**_


	14. The Drama

_**So I only got two reviews last chapter… Pretty disappointing for me… There's a lot of drama and a cliff hanger at the end. I thought about making this shorter because of the lack of reviews, but I hate when teachers punish everyone for something not everyone did sooo here you go also, the pix of the dresses didn't go up on my profile, but I'm re-putting them up now, so go check them out because they're b.e.:] **_

"Sirius there is no way in hell." Shay spat.

"Why not beautiful?" Sirius pouted.

"Because you won't do any work and I'll get stuck with all the homework, so no we will not be partners for this project!" Shay said loudly.

Professor Barns the Divination teacher who was unfortunately rather hard of hearing replied.

"Mr. Black and Miss. Jefferson? Lovely!" She screeched and walked back to her desk to presumably fall asleep.

"Goodness when is that woman going to retire?" Lily whispered.

"Well, how old is she?" Shay asked extremely annoyed at her partnership.

"Oh I'd say 180 give or take a few decades. But all that divination really wares on the brain." James said smirking.

"Are you serious James?" Lily asked laughing uncontrollably.

"Ah Mr. Potter and Miss. Evans. Lovely." the professor who had suddenly awoken and was now scribbling their names on the partner signup sheet squawked.

"Oh my." Lily said shaking her head succumbing to the laughter that was bubbling inside of her.

"What is this bloody project about anyway?" Sirius asked.

"Something about Divination I'm guessing." Remus said.

"I'm not really sure." Lily said.

"Oh no, Lily and Moony don't know. We're doomed." Sirius said dramatically stabbing himself with an invisible dagger and dying. Eliciting another round of silent laughter from Lily.

"Lily's in a good mood today I think" Remus said smiling at her cheerfulness.

"Lily" Sirius said taking her hand and shaking it fervently, "You have to stop laughing!"

Lily doubled over again in her fits of silent laughter.

"Oh Merlin" James muttered. "It's another mime moment."

"Seriously Lily, this is your third time in a week!" Shay said patting her on the back.

"You have to stop these mime moments" Remus said.

"Lily Marie Evans STOP!" Sirius shouted.

Lily kept her laughing going and struggled for a breath.

"That's it breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out" Shay said rubbing her back as she calmed down.

"Good, blonde moment averted." Sirius announced to the class.

It was silent for a few moments before laughter hit the ears of everyone like bells. Lily had laughed. You could hear it for a bit before she yet again succumbed to mimeness.

"Oh Lily" James, Shay, Remus and Sirius muttered at the same time.

O.o.O

A week later the project deadline was approaching and Lily and James were done, obviously. Shay and Sirius however were in the common room starting their project.

"This is lovely. Did I not say I would end up doing all the work?" Shay said annoyed.

"Hey, I'm here. I'm trying to help!" Sirius said reaching his hand to grab a paper at the exact same moment she did. When their hands touched Shay drew hers back quickly as if he was some kind of monster.

"Here" she said avoiding his eyes and handing him parchment and a quill. "Write the introduction; just say why Divination is important."

"Shay listen," Sirius said moving closer to her, "We should talk, about the ball and everything you said."

"Right now we're working on a very important project" Shay said trying to look busy by rearranging her papers and surreptitiously avoiding looking at Sirius.

"Shay" Sirius said soothingly, and lowering her hands and papers so he could see her face. "We can say anything to get out of this project. This is in no way as important as what you said. It's not true and I would never dream of doing that to you. I'm not a bad guy Shay."

"You're right," Shay said pausing for a moment before standing up and continuing, "We can say anything to get out of this project. Say I wasn't feeling well, it's even partially true."

Shay turned and left, leaving a crestfallen Sirius Black in the common room.

O.o.O

"This year there are two games against Slytherin, one at the beginning, one at the end. The first one is coming up this weekend." James said at Quidditch practice the next day. "I know most of you probably already know, but come on let's practice!"

Sirius and Shay did drills together, but neither one spoke. Actually they didn't speak until after they had finished practice when Sirius rushed to be outside when Shay came out of the locker rooms.

"Shay," he said stopping her and pulling her to a tree, "Your special Shay, you're not like the other girls I've dated. I would never do that to you and I need you to realize that. Because well I think that I've fallen for you."

Shay was shocked.

"Sirius I get it. But this is too fast, we're just good friends right now and I need some time." Shay said. "I'm sorry."

"No that's cool too. Um sorry I brought it up." he stammered.

"I'm glad I'm special though." Shay smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck happily.

Sirius smiled back at the girl that he couldn't ever figure out. Maybe that's why he loved her so much.

"Hey remember when you asked me my opinion on your ass?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah" Shay smiled. "It's totally super cute right?"

"Definitely." he said half heartedly as he was still contemplating how he would ever win this girl.

O.o.O

James woke up the morning of the game late and realized that no one else had bothered to wake up. He shook Remus and kicked Sirius. Trying to wake Peter was pointless.

"We are going to be late, Padfoot wake up you lazy arse!" James said after he realized Sirius hadn't moved.

"Fine," he grumbled, "I've got things on my mind you insensitive bastard."

"Things..." Remus pestered smirking, "Like things with blonde hair?"

"Oh Padfoot!" James said smirking as well, "I always knew you'd find someone"

"Shut up James I mean it." Sirius said his head spinning and ears ringing, but Remus and James continued.

"Maybe they can get married, Prongs!" Remus joked.

"And we'd be his best men of course and then they'd have kids and we could be like uncles!" James rambled smirking.

"Don't get ahead of yourself there Prongs, Padfoot needs to decide something first." Remus said.

"Yes, do you love her mate?" James asked.

Shay walked in at that moment, but stopped in her tracks when James signaled her to be quiet and listen. He was sure Sirius would admit defeat and show his obvious love for the girl.

He was wrong. Sirius cracked.

"I do not love Shay. I was wrong ok? She's not worth it." Sirius spat "She's just another slut playing hard to get. Have you seen her? She's practically screaming that she wants attention. Last week at the ball she practically through herself at me in that dress. I just want to finish her and move on already!"

James and Remus stood in front of Sirius, who couldn't see Shay from where he was standing. They were horrified at what had just happened. Shay took in a sharp breath and Sirius spun to face her.

"No..." Sirius whispered he reached out to her, but she backed away. She seemed almost scared she was so timid.

"The match is moved to tomorrow. Their seeker is s-s-sick." Shay said the tears welled up in her eyes making it impossible to see where her gaze was directed. The need to blink overcame Shay and the tears flowed down her beautiful face promptly. None of the boys had ever seen this confident, independent, bubbly girl cry and they were all shocked at how hurt she really was.

Sirius' face contorted in pain at her tears, he reached out and tried to comfort her, but her emotions changed quickly from sadness to anger.

"Don't. Touch. Me." Shay said icily turning to leave. Sirius reached out again.

"Shay please wait" Sirius begged his voice thick.

"I can't believe I trusted you. This is exactly what I knew would happen, this is exactly what you said you wouldn't do!" Shay said a watery glare etched in her tear-streaked face, she relaxed, wiped away her tears and continued, "I'm sorry I was such a burden to you."

Shay left silently.

The silence in the room was so thick you could feel it.

"Why did no one say she was standing there?" Sirius asked quietly after a while.

"We thought you would finally admit that you loved her." Remus breathed still staring at the spot where Shay had been.

"Why did you say that mate?" James asked, "We know you really do love her."

"I-I don't know." he said, "I have to go talk to her."

"She'll be in her room." James said.

Lily suddenly appeared at the door and stopped Sirius from leaving.

"Sirius Black, how could you?" Lily asked.

"That was fast" Remus stated.

"Lily I need to find Shay." Sirius said looking over her head.

"No!" Lily screamed shoving Sirius so he stumbled backwards, "You won't. You won't talk to her. You won't talk about her. You won't even look at her! She's my best friend do you really think I'll let you explain yourself and cause her more pain?"

"Lily please, you don't understand." Sirius begged.

"Oh I think I do. Was it taken out of context?" Lily asked.

"No, but-"

"Then you have nothing to explain to anyone." Lily yelled.

"I know I messed up, but I didn't mean it that way" Sirius pleaded.

"What other way could you have meant 'I do not love Shay, she's a slut playing hard to get. Have you seen her? She just wants attention. I just want to finish her and move on'" Lily screamed, Sirius winced at his words and held his head in his hands.

"Lily..." James said knowing she was about to reach her breaking point, "Sirius won't talk to her, we'll keep him here."

"You won't keep me here" Sirius protested.

"Yes, we will." James said, "You went too far mate you can't fix it right now."

"And you!" Lily turned on James with the same hatred. "Is this some kind of game for you? Was it funny to tell Shay to listen to Sirius? Was it funny for you guys to see her break down and cry? What is wrong with you Marauders! Leave her alone, you've already done enough."

O.o.O

Shay Jefferson was furious and wanted to drown in her tears at the same time. It was like everything she thought mattered wasn't true. That feeling of the floor being pulled out from under her was horrifying.

What could she do that would stop this aching she felt? Jumping from the Astronomy Tower should do it. Suicide? Had she really just thought that? Did Sirius Black drive her to think about taking her own life? She knew one thing.

She had to get over this

_**I was going to end it here, but….**_

O.o.O

"James?" Lily called as she heard the portrait hole open and close.

"Lily let me explain, I'm not even going to try to give excuses for Sirius, but well Remus and I were trying to get him to say he loved her and we wanted her to hear that! Not in any way did we want her to hear what he said no one should have to hear that."

Lily just sat in her armchair, contemplating the current situation. James stood in front of her with desperation in his eyes.

"I understand, but she can't just forgive him. And seeing him and having him beg is worse than dealing with the pain." Lily said, "Can you keep them apart at Quidditch?"

"I'll try my best." James said sighing in relief that Lily understood.

O.o.O

The Quidditch Match the next day served as a good distraction for everyone. Shay hadn't stopped crying for hours, so her face was still slightly puffy when she walked into breakfast the next day with her eyes down cast. You could see the pain in Sirius' eyes as he watched her longingly from his seat.

Every move she made was slightly less bubbly than normal, but only the Marauders and Lily noticed this. Shay had decided not to tell anyone what had happened, she didn't want their sympathy. After attempting to be her normal self and failing Shay retreated to the Quidditch Pitch.

Sirius was sulking at the end of the table watching her leave debating to follow her or not. As soon as he got up though Remus came over and forced him to talk to him until the second before the match.

James had informed Remus of Lily's wish and Remus had supported her choice completely.

Remus walked Sirius to the Quidditch Pitch where James wouldn't leave his side until his annual pep talk.

"Alright guys," James started, "I know that we are going to do great today, let's put everyone's stress and problems behind us and just have a great game."

Shay's eyes never left the ground, and Sirius' never left Shay hoping to catch her gaze when she looked up. She never did. Her normal spandex shorts and jersey were replaced with the normal uniform; it was a more covered option. Sirius noticed this and knew he had done more damage than he could have imagined.

"And now coming in on the right- the GRYFFINDOR QUIDDITCH TEAM!" Remus shouted and they were off doing their normal routine and prepping for the game. It was comforting to be doing something that they were so accustomed to, but if you looked close enough you could see the pain in the two Chasers eyes.

O.o.O

Lily was boiling. She wanted so badly to go and chop Sirius Black's head off right then. She didn't care that there were hundreds of witnesses she wanted him to die. How could a person be that heartless? She was positive Sirius didn't realize just how sensitive Shay was to these things. Ever she was little, he surely couldn't know about Luke, Lily hoped he did though. Whatever caused him more guilt, more pain, he deserved to know the whole story then he would feel as horrible as possible.

"Jefferson passes to Bell, Bell hands off to Black and Black shoots and- misses. That's a big blow to Gryffindor; a game against Slytherin is no joke Black. GET FOCUSED!" Remus said over the loud speaker.

"Regulus Black is playing Beater this match and he is doing well I unfortunately have to admit." Remus said bitterly "He is now aiming at the ball and what- oh god"

Lily looked up just in time to see Regulus' bat hit Shay's back lurching her forward off the broom and plummeting to the ground. Lily screamed and quickly ran down the steps to her best friend.

Professor Dumbledore was already by her side when Lily raced onto the pitch.

"Will she be alright?" Lily asked nervously.

"Once the bleeding stops she should wake up, but we need to get her to Madame Pomfrey immediately." Dumbledore said lifting her body with his wand and walking towards the castle with Lily, James, Sirius and Remus trailing behind him.

"Poppy," Dumbledore said as try arrived in the hospital wing, "I'm afraid this girl is in need of your help immediately."

Lily gripped James' arm tightly and felt tears roll down her face as soon as she saw Shay in the state she was. Her hair was streaked with blood from her back and neck, she was hunched over like she was completely broken and her face was white as chalk with an expression of excruciating pain on it.

"Oh my," Madame Pomfrey whispered "I'll try my best Professor"

Two hours and countless tears, potions and failures later Madame Pomfrey announced that Shay would be completely fine, in fact she should wake up by that evening. Her recovery would begin then and would probably take a few weeks; the only problem was the pain potions weren't working, so she was still in pain. This tore Lily apart.

"Sirius," Lily said after she regained control of her emotions, "You need to leave."

"Lily, don't do this to him. He's beating himself up enough as is." Remus said.

"No, Madame Pomfrey says she's in pain now. I don't want her to wake up see him and be in even more pain." Lily said coldly.

"Lily let him stay." James pleaded.

"I'm not letting him use her injury for his advantage. Injuries make everyone forget what happened before and he deserves to suffer like she has!" Lily said fuming, "You didn't see her after what he said. She was heartbroken and I don't think she'll ever be the same. He is not going to dote on her during this to make her forgive him."

"Lily I love her" Sirius begged.

"Funny way of showing it Black," Lily retorted. "Do you want to know why she's so sensitive to this kind of thing? She's adopted; she thinks her parents didn't love her enough to keep her. She lives for other people, to please other people and you just had to go tear down her self confidence and happiness didn't you? And now you have to leave."

Sirius was so shocked, but he managed to stammer "Lily, I can't leave her! I need to be here with everyone else."

"You don't even know her! You think you do, but you don't! You know nothing! She might care about you, but she doesn't trust you enough to tell you anything! I bet you never even asked her about her life. You just like her for her looks and you know it, we actually care about her Sirius! So just leave!" Lily screamed to the point of tears.

Remus stepped up and walked Sirius to the door, he whispered to Peter to make sure Sirius stayed in the dormitory. No one knew quite what to do after Lily had been so mad at Sirius they all sat in silence waiting for their friend to wake up.

_**So less than five reviews I'll update in maybe a week, five I'll update Sunday, more than five I'll have the next chapter up by tomorrow night. Sorry I know it's evil, but well if you review than everyone's happy:]**_

_**Love, **_

_**Anna**_


	15. Forgive, and Regret?

_**Hey y'all, you guys actually gave me 9 reviews! Which is great! I was going to put it up Friday night, but it wasn't edited or anything and it was short soooo here it is! **_

Shay could feel her body crumble underneath her as she started to wake up. Everything hurt. Even lifting her eyelids induced a jolt of pain throughout her body.

"Shay?" she heard Lily whisper from somewhere to her left.

"Mmmm" Shay moaned.

"How are you feeling?" Lily asked touching her hand.

"I feel like- hell" Shay said quietly.

"I'm so sorry" Lily said.

"Love why on earth are you sorry?" Shay asked trying to move her broken body and wincing severely.

"I don't know, that you have to go through this no one should be in this much pain." Lily said.

"Where's everyone else?" Shay asked changing the subject, it was best not to think about the pain.

"They're grabbing dinner, don't worry they'll be back soon." Lily smiled and promptly James and Remus walked into the room.

"Shay!" James shouted, "You're awake, how are you?"

"Well, you know when your arm or leg falls asleep and there's that point after the tingly part where it feels like if you move it even the slightest bit it hurts?" They all nodded, "That's my whole body."

"I'm sorry Shay" Remus said.

"Hey what's with the apologizing? It could be worse it could feel like I was being stabbed every time I move." Shay said.

Everyone smiled at her cheerfulness.

"So wheres..." Shay's question died in her throat and she went back to the reserved manner she had been before the game. Lily's heart sunk.

"Can you guys go now? Sorry if that sounds rude, but you'll be here enough and I really need to sleep right now." Shay said.

"Okay love, we'll be back tomorrow." Lily promised and left with James and Remus leaving Shay all by herself to think over her newly rediscovered turmoil.

O.o.O

Sirius Black wanted to die. He was being forcibly confined to his room. It had been THREE DAYS. His friends had sided with Lily. Shay was in incredible pain. Physical and emotional and he was to blame for both. His dreadful brother had done this to Shay; he knew the blow had been meant for him, he had been right behind her when she was hit. He literally wanted to die.

He needed Shay and even if Shay would never forgive him he needed to be there for her. He glanced at the clock; 11pm. Lily would be gone, he could use the invisibility cloak to go talk to her. Hastily he grabbed the cloak and rushed out the portrait hole and down corridors and up stairs until he reached the Hospital Wing. He stopped in his tracks at the door completely forgetting his well rehearsed speech. Unfortunately before he could remember, Mrs. Norris came around the corner. That dreadful cat always found the cloak. Sirius rushed into the Hospital Wing and Shay heard him.

"Who's there?" Shay said weakly.

Sirius couldn't bring himself to answer once he saw her. "She's refusing to wear anything but a turtleneck and sweatpants and she's not eating." James had said earlier, but Sirius hadn't wanted to believe him.

"It's Sirius" Sirius said finally taking off the cloak and appearing at the far end of the room.

"Oh" Shay muttered and winced at the slight movement she had induced. .

"Listen I need to talk to you." Sirius said walking towards her bed.

"Why haven't you been here?" Shay asked quietly, refusing to meet his eyes.

"Lily has banned me from the room." Sirius replied.

"This is my third night here, you didn't bother before." Shay said pointedly.

"I know, I'm sorry. Everyone has been trying to keep us apart, right now is the first time I haven't been guarded by anyone." Sirius explained.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Shay asked sitting criss cross with a great amount of difficulty, but determination masked her pain. She looked up at Sirius for the first time.

"I wanted to apologize..." Sirius said.

"I don't want to hear it please." Shay said in quieter tone.

"Shay, just please let me talk." Sirius begged and looked deep into her eyes.

"Talking doesn't seem to help much with you." Shay said.

"Just-" Sirius started.

"Please, I'm just another slut. Why do I deserve an explanation anyway?" Shay said softly.

"You are not a slut! Shay just let me explain." Sirius pleaded.

Shay nodded and waited expectantly.

"I didn't mean anything that I said, it was stupid and I shouldn't have let everyone's talk get to me. The reason I was so scared was because I really do love you." Sirius said. "I couldn't admit it to myself so when Prongs and Moony started bringing it up I panicked and became the old Sirius."

"I get it, but how do I know if you really mean anything you say now? How do I know when something goes wrong you'll become the old you again?" Shay said without missing a beat.

"I guess it's a risk you'll have to take." Sirius said sadly.

"Ok"

"Ok what?" Sirius asked.

"Just okay" Shay said.

"Shay I'm so sorry." Sirius whispered.

"What is with everyone apologizing? Everyone's so sorry I got hit, everyone's so sorry you hurt me, I hate sympathy no one really knows how it feels." Shay said.

"I know I hurt you and I know I might never be forgiven, but your amazing Shay and I will be here as much as I possibly can, I'll skip classes, I'll skip meals, I'll use the invis-"

"Sirius you don't have to do that." Shay cut in.

"But don't you get it yet?" Sirius asked taking her hand "I do have to, I have to do everything I can to prove that everything I said wasn't true."

Shay pulled her hand away and crossed her arms over her turtle neck before a tear rolled down her cheek from the amount of pain that all of her motion was inducing.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked worriedly.

"Nothing I just can't move at all without everything hurting." Shay muttered.

"I know I made you self conscious." Sirius said with pain in his eyes.

"Yes you did. I was acting slutty though and it was my fault." Shay stated still avoiding his eyes.

"Shay this is in no way your fault." Sirius pleaded trying to make her feel better.

"I just want to be happy again, Sirius." Shay said letting her eyes flutter closed.

"I want you to be happy too" Sirius said.

"I forgive you" Shay said after a few moments, "But this is your one screw up got it? You better be good from now on"

Shay smiled and Sirius smiled back.

"Understood."

"Good luck getting Lily to forgive you." Shay smirked. "If you think your cousin Bellatrix is a drama queen, wait until you see Lily mad."

O.o.O

"Lily" Shay said when her friends came to visit during lunch that day. "I want you to let Sirius start coming to visit me."

"Shay, I'm not sure how much you remember, but you two aren't exactly on the best terms right now. Trust me I'm doing you a favor."

"No, Lily I love you, but you need to let me and Sirius work this out." Shay said.

"Lily, let her have control of her own life" Remus said quietly.

"Oh, alright," Lily said finally looking bitter.

"Thank you Lily" Shay said smiling. "Guess what? Madame Pomfrey says my recovery is going really well. She said by the beginning of December everything should be back to normal. Two more weeks and I'll be able to walk again!"

"That's great Shay!" James said, "I'll go get Sirius."

Lily didn't look too pleased, but she tried to cover it up with a half-baked smile.

"Remus? Could you give Lily and I a moment please?" Shay asked still smiling.

"I'm sorry I'm being so controlling." Lily said bitterly.

"It's okay, I know you're just wry protective, that's a good thing, but well," Shay paused, "He came by yesterday and talked to me. I've had guys try to pretend to be sorry, but this was different Lily."

"Wait? How did he get in?" Lily asked looking at all the windows to see they were still intact.

"The invisibility cloak."

"Well, if you're happy then I'm happy." Lily said putting on a smile a bit more genuine.

O.o.O

"So Lily," James said when they had arrived at the common room that night, "By Christmas Shay should be fine and you two are basically honorary Marauders, how would you like to spend Christmas with us?"

Lily had settled into her plush, leather arm chair and looked up only when she heard his voice thick with anticipation.

"That would be wonderful James." Lily replied quickly. "I'm sure Shay would be fine with it. What's your house like anyway? There's all this talk about the school about how you and your parents own the largest house in the Wizarding World, but well, now I'm babbling."

"Well, our house isn't small. That's all I'll say though." James said smirking.

"Well, I have homework," Lily said turning her nose up and getting up.

"No you don't," James sighed standing up and seating her next to him, "You don't have to do any homework this week because of Shay."

"That doesn't mean I'm not going to, just because it's not required." Lily said.

"Come on, you've had a terrible week, let's watch another one of those muggle movies." James suggested.

"No, my neck hurts, I don't really want to have to sit in one position for two hours. Thanks though." Lily said rubbing her neck.

"Well, you're in luck," James said smiling, "I just so happen to give the best neck massages in England."

Lily looked at him skeptically for a moment before turning and pulling her hair up. James placed his hands tentatively on her pale shoulders and put pressure on her shoulder blades. Lily relaxed a bit when he started working the knots out. After finishing the knots he rubbed his hands in slow circles along her neck and shoulders. He felt her shiver and the feeling reverberated throughout his body.

"Thank you" Lily said, once he had finished, she looked a bit dazed.

"No problem." James said smiling. "You know for going through so much stress this week, you don't look any less gorgeous than you always do."

"Thanks" Lily said rolling her shoulders back and standing up, "I'm going to head to bed."

"Good night" James said. Lily bent down and kissed him lightly on the cheek before disappearing behind her door.

O.o.O

_**So I have yet to write the next chapter, I sort of want to skip to Christmas… but I think I'll do a chapter as a filler next. So Less than 5 reviews I'll put something up Saturday, more than 5 Thursday or Friday**_


	16. Help!

_**This chapter goes to Shroomy, not just because you're at home sick with the flu, but also because you have been a faithful reviewer from the very beginning. So everyone thank Shroomy!**_

Alright, now on wiz ze story (as Fleur would say!)****

Just as Madame Pomfrey had assured Sirius and Lily, by December Shay was nearly healed. By the middle of December she was back up and moving around, Sirius followed her like a very protective dog (ah irony)

However she was still confined to the indoors, with Sirius by her side though you wouldn't have noticed. She was positively glowing. He took her on walks around the grounds daily, they would walk slowly so as to not tire Shay too much. Her recovery took a few weeks longer than expected, but December 19 was the day she was released and she was ecstatic to be independent once again.

Sirius argued with Madame Pomfrey that it was too soon to let her out of her prison, but Shay quickly shot him down. She didn't want to be treated like a baby, a month and a half was quite long enough to be in the hospital wing, she said. Unfortunately for Sirius, Madame Pomfrey agreed.

So December 19, Shay was up early, bundled up and smiling ear to ear. She hugged Madame Pomfrey tightly and exited her haven with Sirius' protective arm wrapped around her waist. Lily and James had been so busy with Heads' duties they didn't have time to come see their friend gain freedom, but they surprised her back in the Gryffindor common room with a party. Everyone was happy that their favorite Chaser was completely recovered. The Quidditch season had actually been halted because of the uproar Gryffindor caused. They simply would not play without their girl, so Professor McGonagall pulled some strings and Quidditch wouldn't start up again until after Christmas break.

No one had bothered to think about presents until the week before they left. You can't blame them, what with the homework, the stress of having an injured friend, and the constant hormonal distractions it was amazing Lily, Shay, James and Sirius were still breathing. The seventeen year olds were left scrambling to compile a list for the final Hogsmeade trip.

"Lily!" Sirius whispered in Transfiguration the day before their shopping trip.

Lily replied with a note;

**Yes?**  
_  
I need help_

**On Shay's gift?**

_You guessed it._

**Alright, I need help with James'**

_No problem love._

**...do you know what James is getting me?**

_Yes, do you know what Shay's getting me?_

**Yes.**

_And?_

**...**  
_  
Fine, your common room after dinner and we can exchange ideas_

**I'll be there.**

"What are you two talking about?" James asked trying to read the note over Sirius' shoulder.

"Christmas" Lily replied smiling.

"I meant to ask you, what would you like?" James asked.

"You don't need to buy me anything" Lily replied smoothly.

"Uh huh, now tell me what you want." James said.

"I don't know surprise me!" Lily said turning back to her work.

O.o.O

"Shay likes jewelry, I gave her a necklace a while ago and she really liked it," Sirius said, "But I can't get her more jewelry can I? More than once is stupid"

"If you've given her a necklace already you're right don't do it again." Lily said "What about something huge?"

"Fireworks?" Sirius offered.

"I meant meaningfully huge, like something sentimental." Lily explained.

"God, girls are so complicated. You've got it easy James is already in love with you, it doesn't matter what you get him he'll love it. I have to win over Shay with this gift." Sirius said.

"You can't buy her love Sirius. But girls do love expensive things." Lily said.

"So it should be expensive, but not too expensive?" Sirius repeated with a look of confusion.

"Exactly, jewelry isn't actually a bad idea just not a necklace. What about a ring?" Lily said

"I'm not proposing Lily" Sirius said.

"Fine a bracelet then." Lily said, "You should get it engraved or something, and it should have-"

"Emeralds" Sirius finished.

"Yeah, make the writing something only you two understand, it'll mean more then." Lily said.

"Thanks love." Sirius said and turned to leave.

"Wait what should I get James?" Lily asked.

"Chudley Canons tickets and treacle tart." Sirius replied.

"Thank you!" Lily called after him.

"No problem Lils!" Sirius called back.

In the Gryffindor common room Sirius walked in to Shay and James no doubt discussing his and Lily's gifts. Sirius walked over and grabbed Shay around the waist.

"Can I get that kiss now?" Sirius whispered into her ear.

"Keep dreaming love." Shay whispered back.

"You always say that" Sirius complained.

"Dreaming keeps the heart on edge." Shay said.

"You're always in my dreams" Sirius said darkly.

"Oi! I'm right here, please leave your flirting to other places." James said.

"You're killing me Prongs" Sirius complained.

"Says the guy who managed to stop Lily and I from kissing not once, but twice!" James said.

"Well, actually it was thrice. Remember at the pictures they were about to kiss and he rushed you two off the platform?" Shay said laughing.

"You make me sound so unromantic. I'm proud to let you know I have an amazingly romantic and thoughtful gift for you Miss Jefferson." Sirius said keeping his hands laced around her waist.

"And I have something too" Shay said clearly lying.

"You haven't gone shopping yet have you?" Sirius smirked.

"Shut up I know exactly what I'm getting." Shay said "and I'm going right now I'm sneaking out to Hogsmeade. Care to join me you two? You can't follow me though you have to wait until Christmas for your gifts."

"Good I need to get my present for Lily" James said hopping up, "Come on Padfoot, unless you'd rather stay here and study."

"No thank you" Sirius replied following the two out of the common room.

"Come on I know a tunnel that leads directly there." Shay said leading the way to a knight, where she turned the arrowhead on his breast plate and a passage opened up. "I learned about it from my friends that are older, not all of us had a map."

"How'd you know about that?" James asked surprised.

"Oh please, Lily found it on the ground in your common room in September of fifth year and showed me. I already knew all but two of those tunnels and passages." Shay declared happily.

"Oh you and your delinquency!" Sirius teased.

"Love, I don't believe that's a word." Shay giggled.

"Oh I beg to differ!" Sirius insisted.

"Oh Pads, you know better than to argue with this one!" James said hugging Shay.

"How come you let him hug you, but not me!" Sirius complained.

"Firstly, you hug me anyway," Shay said, "Secondly, James is my friend and I hug my friends, and thirdly, before you say 'I'm your friend, love!' James is JUST my friend!"

"Told you not to argue with her..." James reprimanded, adding a 'tsk' for good measure.

"Goodness, now I don't know if I'm going to buy you the super beautiful gift I told you about..." Sirius said sarcastically.

"Ha!" Shay shouted triumphantly, "You said you already had it, you LIED!"

"Oh Pads, this is what strike three in one night? Told you man she's a killer arguer!"

"Hmpf" Sirius sulked leaning against the tunnel as he walked.

Once they reached Hogsmeade they went their separate ways, and met up again a few hours later, each carrying bags they wouldn't let each other see.

"Well," Sirius said as he escorted Shay to her dorm, "Maybe on Christmas I'll find some mistletoe so we can finally have a real kiss."

Shay leaned so close she was sure Sirius could feel her hot breath on his neck, before she said "Keep dreaming" and running up the stairs.

Sirius smiled, instead of being disappointed by this, his present was perfect.  
_**  
Alrighty roony, reviewing is not mandatory this time, partially because I keep going over the deadline, SORRY! But your review is greatly appreciated and will motivate me to write more! Because I have now run out of prewritten chapters, but the next one "Christmas Kisses" will be fairly easy to write. Hint, hint the title might correspond to something I'll write in the chapter! ;]**_

Love,  
Anna


	17. The Perfect Christmas

_**Okay, so this is like three of my normal chapters combined, because I didn't want to break it up and I had so much to cover! So everyone that's been asking for a longer chapter, here you go:]**_

The morning prior to leaving for Christmas break Lily had been called to Shay's dormitory as she had completely forgotten to pack.

After fifteen minutes of packing Shay finally looked at Lily and screamed.

"What are you thinking? You have to meet James' parents in that outfit! This is not the time for jeans Lily!"

So another half hour of fiddling produced a new polished Lily and Shay. Lily's hair was in tamed curls, she had a high waisted tight black skirt on over black tights and a peach scoop neck sweater. On top of the sweater she wore a long strand of pearls and a navy trench coat. Shay's hair was in its normal waves, she was wearing tight black jeans, that she insisted didn't look like jeans so she was fine, a white form fitted sweater and the necklace Sirius had given her. At the door Shay had handed Lily strappy black high-heels, much higher than the ones she had worn the first day, this worried her. Due to Lily's protests Shay said she could carry them until they had to go outside. She said Lily shouldn't be complaining her deep red heels were much more uncomfortable than Lily's and she was wearing them.

"Shay I look so old!" Lily protested carrying her heels in one hand as then walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Lily, you know if I wasn't your best friend I might just get a bit annoyed with your complaining." Shay snapped.

"I'm not complaining, it's an observation!" Lily said.

"You look sophisticated, and that's what we were going for!" Shay said.

"Okay, I guess this is how I'll have to dress once we're Aurors." Lily said, "Well, when we're in the Ministry."

"Exactly consider this practice. Now put your heels on!" Shay hissed as they entered the Great Hall.

"No!" Lily whispered loudly.

"Well, well, look at the lovely ladies!" Remus said, he was the only Marauder present so he hugged them both. "Ready to see James' mansion?"

"Yes, and Lily's ready to meet his parents." Shay said.

"I was kidnapped" Lily whispered to Remus when they hugged.

"Hey! I heard that!" Shay said.

"Oh look there's Prongs and Padfoot." Remus said looking up.

"Look at you two!" Sirius said wolf-whistling.

"Lily, I don't remember you looking like that this morning." James smirked.

"Shut up, I look sophisticated." Lily said smiling genuinely and showing off her outfit. Shay smiled too.

"You look beautiful," James said hugging her, "Now let's eat before Sirius throws a tantrum."

"Much obliged, mate." Sirius said.

"What does that even mean?" Shay asked grabbing toast.

"I don't know, I just hear it in old stuff all the time." Sirius said piling his plate full of food.

"How can you hear it through old stuff?" Lily asked taking a bite of her biscuit.

"Hey, Evans eat!" Sirius said annoyed.

"I am Black." Lily said smiling.

"Okay, so you two should know that my parents hold an annual Christmas party on Christmas Eve, but the good news is they're visiting my great aunt. So we have the house to ourselves from Christmas morning on." James said.

"Awesome." Lily said.

"Is this part fancy?" Shay asked.

"Yes unfortunately, it's sort of a..." James trailed off.

"It's a gala, a ball." Remus said, "Black-tie dress."

"What do most girls wear?" Lily asked.

"Minimal clothing." Sirius said quickly. Shay kicked him with her heel. "Ouch! I see you're back to high-heels."

"Oh, Lily," James asked, "Why are you carrying your shoes?"

"You've obviously never worn twelve-centimeter _**(For us Americans that's five inches!)**_ heels." Lily sighed.

"Okay so Lily and I need gowns." Shay said.

"I'm broke, I'll just alter one of my own and I can do the same to one of yours." Lily suggested.

"Good idea." Shay said.

"Okay let's head to the train before my head explodes with all this girl-talk." Sirius complained.

"James?" Lily asked, "Could you stand right there while I put on these shoes. I have terrible balance."

"Of course" James said holding her hand for support.

"There!" Lily said triumphantly, she stumbled for a few steps then got the hang of it. "James how on earth are you still the taller than me in these?"

"Hey what can I say, I'm a big guy." James said.

"Let's go you two!" Shay called from halfway to the door.

"Coming!" Lily called half jumping half running to catch up with Shay, Sirius and Remus. She was glad James was there, due to the fact she kept tripping. Oh boy.

O.o.O

Once the Marauders, minus Peter; plus Lily and Shay, stepped off the train at King's Cross Station James and Sirius were ambushed by two people that could only be James' parents.

"Oh boys! You've grown so much in such a short time!" Mrs. Potter gushed. "You too Remus! You're all so grown up."

Mrs. Potter looked no more than thirty and had the body and looks to go along with it with more of a twenty-fie year old. Unlike most wizards she was quite good with muggle clothing. Her long black hair and blue eyes gave the impression of a stunning beauty. Mr. Potter looked like a thirty year old James. He was extremely handsome and well built. Over all the two of them looked like the model couple.

"Oh and these must be the girls!" Mrs. Potter said giving Shay and Lily hugs. "Merlin you girls are gorgeous! James and Sirius have told us how beautiful you are, but my god! Henry! Look at these girls!"

"My this must be Lily," Mr. Potter said shaking Lily's hand, "And Shay."

"Aren't they gorgeous?" Mrs. Potter gushed.

"Thank you Mrs. Potter." Lily said smiling.

"I'm Diane," Mrs. Potter said, "And this is Henry. None if that Mr. and Mrs. nonsense."

"Well, let's get going," Mr. Potter said ushering them to the car.

The car ride to the Potter's house was mostly filled with the Potter's catching up with their sons. And occasionally an outburst from Mrs. Potter about Lily and Shay's beauty. It was all very pleasant. Diane and Henry had a calming aura that made Lily and Shay feel just as much a part of the family as James, Sirius and Remus were.

The Potter mansion definitely lived up to its name. It was an old Victorian style mansion. The whole house was cerulean and white apart from the bright teal door. James, Sirius and Remus showed Lily and Shay their rooms as the parents started dinner.

"My god they love you two!" James said once they were out of earshot from his parents.

"Diane can't stop talking about how beautiful you two are." Sirius said, "Well, I mean you two are quite gorgeous."

"Thanks Sirius." they replied in unison.

"So, James, this house is... Wow" Lily said speechless. They climbed one if the many large staircases to reach their rooms.

"Okay," James said, "Remus is at the end next to my cousin Victoria, who will be here soon."

"Oh Moony!" Sirius exclaimed. "I forgot about you and Victoria's escapades."

"Escapades?" Lily asked smirking.

"Shut up, I'll be in my room thank you." Remus said leaving.

"Okay, Lily you'll be in that one and Shay will be right across the hall." James said.

"Next to me!" Sirius said happily pulling Shay into a tight hug nearly knocking her over.

"Yea." Shay said flatly.

"Sorry," James said, "We would have you two on one side, but Sirius and I already had our rooms like this because well."

"You have to share a bathroom." Sirius said waggling his eyebrows at Shay she groaned and retired to her room

"No big deal, James and I already share one back at Hogwarts." Lily smiled at him. "Alright ready to watch me miraculously shrink twelve centimeters?"

"Go right ahead" James laughed holding her hand once again for support.

"Ta-da!" Lily said happily wiggling her toes.

James hugged her tightly and said.

"I'm really glad your here."

"I'm glad I'm here too." Lily replied.

"I'm glad I'm here too." Sirius said in a mocking tone, realizing he hadn't left they let go of each other and turned to face him.

"Yes Padfoot?" James asked annoyed.

"I think I'll just go unpack." Sirius said taking his time walking the three steps to his room.

"I should probably do the same." Lily said heading into her room.

After dinner Shay and Lily helped Mrs. Potter do the dishes. Trying to do as much as they could to help.

"Gosh, I used to be as beautiful as you girls. I remember Hogwarts, it was where I met Henry we started dating in fifth year and never stopped." She said dreamily.

"Used to be beautiful?" Shay asked in disbelief, "Mrs. P- Diane, you're gorgeous! You don't look a day over twenty five!"

"I thought you were James' sister." Lily confessed.

"Thank you girls." Diane said.

"We were wondering, what exactly should we wear to this party? We asked Sirius and James and well, they didn't exactly give us a straight answer." Shay asked.

"Oh come by my room later and you can look through my closet, you might have to alter some things, but in the thirty years since Hogwarts I've contracted quite the wardrobe."

"Thirty years?" Lily and Shay asked in disbelief.

"You look so much younger than my mum and she's thirty-seven!" Lily exclaimed.

"Thank you girls, I can finish up here. Come by later tonight for dresses." she said sweetly ushering them out of the kitchen.

"My god no wonder James is gorgeous." Lily said as they climbed the stairs to their rooms.

"Oh, Lily when are just going to let him kiss you?" Shay asked.

"Who knows. Not me that's for sure." Lily said. "But hopefully, soon."

"You better. You two are perfect for each other!" Shay gushed.

"How about you Miss. Jefferson? How long before you're Mrs. Black?" Lily joked.

"Oh shut up, we aren't even dating yet." Shay said.

"If Sirius had his way you would be." Lily pointed out.

"I know, but I feel like since he said those things," She shuddered and continued, "We're just back at the beginning again."

"You know that I don't like Sirius very much, but makes you happy, and you make him happy. Isn't that all you need?" Lily asked.

"I suppose." Shay said, "Oh I've been meaning to ask you, is sharing a bathroom that hard?"

"No. Not with James at least." Lily said, "I would keep an eye on Sirius though."

"Yeah, I know. Just like me to fall for the guy who has doesn't recognize boundaries." Shay sighed.

O.o.O

The next day was Christmas Eve, Lily and Shay had gone the night before to find dresses in Mrs. Potter's vast closet. So that morning everyone, but James and Lily slept in. James was up doing his early morning work-out and Lily had found an alcove off of the kitchen where she could read. Mr. and Mrs. Potter had left at the crack of dawn to finish off last minute arrangements.

"Lily?" James asked once he had finished his morning routine and headed to the kitchen. "Would you like some breakfast?"

"Sure, that would be marvelous." Lily replied sweetly

"Marvelous, huh no one seems to use that word much anymore." James said.

"You're right, it's a fantastic word though." Lily said.

"You and your adjectives." James laughed.

"Thanks, I am known for my vast vocabulary." Lily smiled putting her book down and walking to the pantry, "How can I help?"

"No way, you're the guest. I'm making breakfast." James said ushering her back to the window seat. Lily couldn't help but realize how nice his hand on her back felt.

"Well," Lily said picking her book up once again, "Thank you."

"So I sort of have a system, if it's going to be a bad day I eat fruit, good day I eat waffles, amazing or 'marvelous' day I eat pancakes with nectarines on top. What shall it be?"

"You like nectarines?" Lily asked, "I love nectarines! I've never met someone else who likes them! Definitely a marvelous day breakfast, after all there is the huge ball."

"Alright, then pancakes with nectarines it is." James said smiling. And handing her a plate.

"How did you make it that fast?" Lily asked in disbelief.

"I've been making that the whole time, I had a feeling." He replied.

"James this is delicious!" Lily said.

"Lily Evans get up here right now!" Shay called.

"Oh no, she probably wants to start getting ready."

"The party's at seven." James said confused.

"Yes and it's," Lily looked at the clock, "Noon, wow I read for a long time!"

"Seven hours?" James asked.

"That's Shay for you." Lily said, "We'll talk for about an hour, than do our hair in different styles for another two hours, then we talk for another hour about how we can alter the dresses, then the actual altering takes maybe two hours. Then nails and accessories and makeup for the rest of the time."

"That's crazy, you look beautiful right now, no makeup, no special dress, no nail polish, your normal hair. You don't need to change anything." James said moving closer to her with every thought.

"Thank you, James." Lily said smiling widely and hugging him. They stayed hugging each other for a long time, taking comfort in each other's arms-

"LILY!" Shay called.

"I better get going." Lily said hurrying up the stairs.

"See you in seven hours!" James called after her.

O.o.O

The dresses the girls had picked out were a bit roomy on them, but one they had been altered by Lily's skillful hand they looked simply gorgeous. Six hours into their seven hour stakeout in Lily's room they were done.

"Wow," Lily said, "I just want you to pause a minute, look at the time, look at us and just think for future reference. Maybe we don't need seven hours."

"Shut up," Shay mumbled, "I'm nervous okay. Doesn't it feel like tonight should be perfect?"

"I'm just excited about having fun with our friends." Lily admitted falling back on her bed. "Tell me why we can't get into our dresses now? I've done everything else you've asked I want to try on my dress! I would like to feel pretty."

"Lily, no it will get wrinkled!" Shay snapped, then relaxed, "Sorry, I'm just nervous."

"It's fine," Lily said, "Okay we have fifteen minutes until it starts. May I pretty please with chocolate frogs on top put on my pretty dress now?"

"Yes." Shay sighed, handing Lily the dress and grabbing hers off the hanger.

Shay examined the dress with her most critical eye and finally slipped it on. It fit like a glove, a very form fitting glove. The dress she had picked was light blue silk that flawlessly hugged her form until it gracefully fell to the floor in line with her hips. It had slits coming almost all the way up to her hip, showing off her long legs as she moved. It had only one shoulder strap and it was, as she hoped, perfect.

"Shay!" Lily cried, "This is a bit lower than I hoped!"

"Lily, wow you look amazing!" Shay gushed motioning for her to turn. "It's supposed to be low, it's very flattering."

"Thanks." Lily said turning and looking at herself in the mirror, "Well, I suppose a bra isn't an option."

"Oh Lily don't complain. You look gorgeous, James might just pass out." Shay said. "How did you pick a dress that works so well with your hair color?"

Lily's dress had dusty white on top, it had halter straps that formed a very low-v neckline. The neckline ended at a dark blue ribbon that formed the waist, it had a completely open back until the dark blue ribbon. The skirt was long ruffles of gauze that faded from dusty white into grey. Her hair was a waterfall of red curls. It was breath-taking.

"Honestly, I just thought it looked beautiful on the hanger." Lily blushed, smoothing her dress and looking at the clock, "Well, shall we head-"

"Girls?" Sirius said knocking on the door, "Are you ready?"

"Yes!" Shay yelled and walked, with surprising ease considering her silver high heels height. Lily recalled that she had dressed the fanciest she had in a long time in the past two days.

"Shay." Lily whispered harshly, stopping in her tracks. "We're dressed for summer! It's Christmas! Neither of us have sleeves!"

"Don't worry, there happen to be two gentlemen out there that happen to fancy us that are wearing jackets." Shay said, Lily sighed in relief, "Look who's nervous now!"

"Oh shut it." Lily said blushing.

"Hey" Shay said calmly when she stepped out of the door.

"Hello" Lily said completely forgetting her anxiety attack a moment ago.

They didn't receive an answer, Remus had left to go find, presumably the illustrious Victoria they had yet to meet, and that left James and Sirius at their door.

"Uh- hello." Sirius grinned keeping his eyes on Shay the whole time. He elbowed James who snapped out of his reverie.

"Lily," he breathed smiling the most genuine smile she had ever seen, "You look perfect."

"Thank you." Lily blushed. She looked around and realized Shay and Sirius had left. "Shall we head down?"

"Yes, but first I thought you might like your Christmas present now. To show off to all my parents rich friends." James smiled, "Follow me."

Lily smiled and let him pull her down the long staircase to the second floor and out on to a balcony where the midnight blue sky was exactly the color of her ribbon.

"Here, when I saw this I thought of you." James said handing her a small wrapped gift. She neatly unfolded the wrapping paper and took out a small satin box, she flipped the lid open with a click and was looking at the most beautiful necklace she had ever seen. It was three stones stacked in a row. A dark sapphire, a ruby, and a diamond.

"James, I can't take this." Lily said looking him in the eyes.

"No way, don't even try to play the 'it's too much' card. Have you seen this house? It is most definitely not too much." James said.

"How did you know these were my favorite gems?" Lily asked.

"I just thought it was pretty, but let's make me sound more romantic and say I had a vision." James smiled.

"I love it. Thank you so much." Lily said, "Can you help me put it on, please?"

"Sure" He said gingerly putting it around her neck and fastening it. He was extremely aware that the only ties that held Lily's dress up were right near his fingertips, but he pushed that thought out of his head.

"Thank you." Lily said. James offered his arm and Lily took it.

"Oh by the way, we can either enter together or separately. There's this big staircase leading in and they announce you, it's fun. Last year Sirius and I slid down each of the banisters instead of walking all those stairs."

"Please enter with me." Lily begged. "I'm not too good with attention."

"Of course, it's right here," James said leading her to the end of the hallway where a house elf stood proud and as tall as it could be. "Hi, Holly this is Lily Marie Evans."

Holly the house elf nodded and waited for them to step up to the staircase.

"Ready?" James whispered, Lily nodded and held his hand instead of his arm for more comfort. They walked together to the stairs and started walking down them.

"Mr. James Henry Potter and Miss. Lily Marie Evans, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Seventh Year." Holly announced in an amplified voice.

The room was silent for a moment. Lily didn't know whether it was her or James that was commanding all the attention. In fact it was the both of them that made everyone fall silent and look up, together they out shined everyone in the room. They reached the third to last step and the room erupted in cheers. Lily buried her face in James shoulder overcome with embarrassment. He squeezed her hand and she looked up.

"Kiss!" Sirius shouted from near the back of the vast ballroom.

"Kiss!" Shay echoed loudly and unfortunately the rest of the room followed in a chant.

"We have to kill them later." James muttered.

"Just kiss me." Lily said looking at him genuinely. As soon as the words were out of her mouth she was amazed she had said them, they were so un-her, but she was glad she did.

James obliged and bent down, he touched his lips lightly to hers and Lily felt a jolt of electricity go up her spine when he placed his hand on her open back. She kissed him back, but they knew they were in the public eye and quickly drew apart. The room roared with applause, they quickly left the staircase and melted into the crowd.

"I can't believe we just did that." Lily whispered.

"I can't believe Sirius and Shay made us do that." James whispered back.

"Oh so your saying you didn't enjoy it?" Lily asked smirking.

"No, I enjoyed it." James smiled.

"Hey, hey!" Sirius called. "If it isn't the perfect couple. You're welcome mate."

"Lily! That necklace! It's gorgeous, where did you get it?" Shay exclaimed.

"James." Lily smiled.

"Well, Lily, would you like to dance?" James asked hopefully. She nodded. He sighed in relief. It was perfect.

O.o.O

"Shay!" Sirius called rather loudly for being fairly close.

"Sirius!" She mocked and took the drink which he had just gone to find. "Thank you."

"Anything for my lady." Sirius smiled putting his arm around her shoulders.

"Who said I'm your girl?" Shay asked.

"Me, naturally." Sirius smirked, "Would you like your Christmas present now?"

"Where did that come from?" Shay laughed, "Um alright."

"Let's go for a walk." Sirius said leading her out the door onto the back lawn that looked like it went on forever.

"You are such a strange boy." Shay smiled.

"Good strange?" He asked.

"Naturally." She replied and shivered hugging his torso and burying her face in his chest. "It's cold Sirius have you seen my dress."

"Yeah." He said deeply and then coughed before giving her his jacket. "Better?"

"Yes." She smiled brightly, "It smells like you."

"Do I smell fairly decent?" He asked taking her hand.

"Yes." Shay said dreamily, "Did you spike my drink?"

"No!" Sirius said, "I'm offended."

"Sorry, I feel like a don't have a care in the world and well that's just not me." She admitted.

"I think I'll give you your present now." Sirius said taking a box out of his pocket and handing it to her.

Shay took the badly wrapped box and smiled, at least he had tried. Ripping the paper off she opened the box slowly, vaguely worried something would jump out at her, but no such thing happened. Instead a bracelet lay in the dark blue silk filling up the box. The chain of the bracelet was a string of flawless emeralds, in the center there was a slender gold plaque housed type-writer style letters that read:

keep dreaming

"I hope you like it." Sirius said sheepishly.

Shay took it out of the box with awe and turned it over in her hands, she noticed there was writing on the back as well in the same font, it read:

love,  
your dreamer

"Sirius it's gorgeous." Shay breathed as she put it on, "Love?"

She didn't have to say anything else, he understood.

"Yeah, I already told you, but it wasn't the most romantic of settings. Seeing as I was begging forgiveness, but yes. I love you Shay." He said looking directly in her eyes.

She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth. He immediately reacted and put his hands on her lower back. He kissed her back with every emotion he had ever felt toward her. She tilted her head and opened her mouth slightly, permitting him entrance. She realized they had been walking backwards when her back came in contact with a curving tree trunk. She leaned back against it, but immediately arched towards Sirus' body instead. Her hands had left his neck and were now pulling on his hair making him moan with pleasure. His hands had started to wander up and down her sides. Shay was no longer cold at all. They both came up for air and Sirius stumbled backwards, falling flat on his back pulling Shay with him. She didn't seem to notice and let her long blonde hair create a curtain around their faces as she kissed him again.

He flipped her over skillfully and began to kiss her neck.

"I love you too." She breathed.

"Good." he mumbled and rolled on his side, so he was watching her. She curled against his chest and didn't even bother to worry about the fact that her carefully thought out appearance was disheveled. Shay breathed deeply and melted into the boy that she just couldn't seem to get enough of.

O.o.O

"James!" Mrs. Potter called cheerfully, "Oh hello Lily."

"Hi Diane." Lily replied internally cringing at the need to call her Mrs. Potter.

"James, Victoria should be announced soon, is Remus with her?" Mr. Potter asked.

"I would assume so." James said, before walking away politely with Lily at his arm.

"Mr. Remus John Lupin, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Seventh Year and Miss Victoria Mollee Potter, Beauxbatons School for Young Witches, Year Seven." Holly the house elf announced.

"Oh I get to finally see this mysterious Victoria." Lily said squeezing James arm with anticipation.

Remus came down the stairs with the most beautiful girl Lily had ever seen, she had long black hair and piercing blue eyes, Lily was strangely reminded of Dumbledore. She wore a black dress that had a modest neckline and an open back. It was effortless to her, being stunning.

"She's gorgeous!" Lily gasped.

"Well, she is related to me." James smirked, "Jeez! Ow!" He cried, after Lily shoved him.

"Arrogant toerag." Lily muttered.

"Oh, let's not go back to that." James said pulling Lily close to him.

"Hi." A cheerful voice said.

"Oh! Hey Remus, Victoria this is Lily." James said not bothering to break their embrace. Lily pushed him away and extended her hand.

"I'm Lily, sorry for this lumps rudeness." Lily joked.

"Hey!"

"No problem." Victoria said happily, ignoring James' remark.

"It's so good to finally meet you." Lily beamed.

"I think we'll go get punch." Remus suggested

"Alright darling" Victoria said giving him a peck on the cheek before he dragged James with him to the punch bowl.

"I am so happy you and Remus are together. He's a terrific guy." Lily said.

"Yes, he is. It's hard to be apart for most of the time, but breaks, summers we get by. Soon we'll both be out of school then we can spend more time together." She smiled.

"That's good." Lily said.

"So, you and James are..." Victoria looked at her questioningly.

"Please tell me when you figure it out." Lily sighed looking in his direction where he had lifted his arm to wave and knocked punch all over Remus. Lily had to stifle her laughter.

"Ah my cousin, piece of work that one. In the best way of course, you will never be bored, Lily." She said thoughtfully.

"He makes me laugh." Lily said smiling.

"He'll always be there." Victoria pointed out.

"He cares about me."

"He's a gentleman."

"He's nice on the eyes." Lily sighed. Victoria cracked up.

"Why aren't you bloody with him?" Victoria asked.

"Who knows?" Lily said.

"Certainly not me, that's why I asked!" Victoria said shaking her head with a smile, now it was Lily's turn to crack up.

"I like you, you're exactly like my best friend Shay." Lily said, "I wonder where she is."

"Gorgeous, blonde wavy hair, came with Sirius?" She asked.

"Exactly."

"Their off in the back forest of foreverness." Victoria explained, making no sense, "The back yard."

"Got it." Lily said, "Their probably snogging. I can't say I very much like Sirius."

"Why?" Victoria asked curiously.

O.o.O

"Your date is stealing my date, Moony!" James whined.

"I should be the one complaining you see Lily every day." Remus pouted.

"You've already had your share of fun. Your shirt's on inside out by the way." James smirked.

"Oh please, you've already kissed her too." Remus said.

"How'd you know that?"

"On the way over to you guys I heard three people talking about it. Yes, even old people gossip." Remus said taking a sip of punch.

"Well, it wasn't a real kiss, it was a forced kiss by Sirius and Shay." James explained.

"It doesn't matter, aren't you happy Tori and Lily are getting along?" Remus asked.

"Yes, but still." James pouted.

"Then let's go back over there!" Remus said pointing to where Lily was explaining something heatedly and using her hands to depict her anger by clawing at the air.

"Let's wait a moment, there in a discussion." James said.

"Can you read lips, Prongs?" Remus asked.

"I'm trying, Tori just said 'No!' I think." James said concentrating completely on their lips. "Lily just said 'It makes me so bad, that he can just forget him and still want to be, something, with me.'" _**(What she really said: it makes me so mad that she can just forgive him and still want to be friends with me.)**_

"What the bloody hell are they talking about?" Remus asked.

"I don't know, now Tori said 'You have a right to be bad, you are her, something." James said, "Okay let's go."

"Hi ladies." Remus said smoothly.

"So what are we talking about here?" James asked nervously.

"Sirius' screw-up." Lily said simply. "But in conclusion, she's happy, so I'm happy for her."

"Good, good- Lily let's dance!" James said trying to get Lily to himself again.

"Sure." Lily smiled, "See you later Tori."

"Tori? Already? I left you two for- five minutes." James said placing his hands on her waist.

"She's so nice, and funny." Lily said. "But anyway, back to us."

"Us," James said, "I like that sound of that."

"Well, I have to give you your Christmas present, but as I'm thinking it over I'm realizing just how stupid I was to ask Sirius for advice. I know you'll like it, but it's not sentimental or sweet at all, like yours was." Lily sighed. "So I'm sorry in advance."

"Lily, I'll love anything from you." James said.

"James you make me feel so guilty! You try so hard and I'm awful to you and I try, but not nearly as hard as you and you like me." Lily said, "Can we go back to that balcony?"

"Okay." James said confused leading the way up the huge staircase and out on to the balcony.

Before James could ask why she had wanted to come up there Lily took his face in her hands and kissed him gently. He put his hands on her waist with anticipation. Lily kissed him once more and this time didn't break the kiss. James kissed her back. They both got the feeling of butterflies in the pit of their stomach as the kiss deepened more and more. James became aware of the fact that all of Lily was completely pressed against him and he loved it. He grasped her waist harder trying to get closer. Lily realized how perfectly they fit together, like a puzzle. A puzzle they had finally managed to solve.

O.o.O

_**Ahhhhh! Finally right? What seventeen chapters in? Hehe:] enjoy the happiness while it lasts duhhhhhhhh duhhhhhhhh dunnnnnnnnn! Shay's dress was Amanda Bynes from the movie What A Girl Wants and the Link to Lily's below. I'll update quicker now cause I'd actually already finished the next few chapters I was just procrastinating this longggg oneee. Please Review! I spent forever writing this and it's over 5,400 words and I really really love it! So please Review my loves!**_

Lots of Love,  
Anna

Lily's dress:  
./tumblr_ktcn25EFnI1qzq8zqo1_


	18. Summer in January

"I hate January," Sirius sulked the day after Christmas break had ended. "It doesn't serve any other point than to freeze my arse off."

"Love, other than Christmas that's all winter is." Shay said sadly leaning her head to his shoulder. Lily sat up on the couch in the Gryffindor common room with disbelief.

"I can't believe it," Lily said incredulously, "It's been less than twenty-four hours since we got back and you're already complaining."

"That's Sirius for you." James said pushing some hair out of Lily's eyes making her tremble with the memories of Christmas.

"_Look out ladies!" Sirius shouted, as the Marauders jumped out from behind the bushes and pummeled Tori, Shay and Lily with snow._

"_Really, snowball fight?" Shay shouted laughing and jumping on Sirius' back and making him lose focus. _

_Tori quickly whipped out her wand and sent a pile of snow tumbling down on her boyfriend, laughing she went to help him. _

"_Lily! Think fast!" James shouted, but Lily dodged his snowball and quickly sent one at him with her wand, but he grabbed her before he fell to the ground. Lily landed on top of him._

"_Funny that the pure-blood uses his hands and the mudblood uses her wand." Lily smiled, vaguely realizing just how close they were._

"_Lily, don't call yourself that" James said running his hand through her hair affectionally._

"_Slim difference between muggle-born and mudblood." Lily breathed._

"_Your blood doesn't matter to me. You're amazing." James said and kissed her._

She still wasn't sure if they were together, together. It was all very confusing. She had kissed him, he kissed her back. It should make sense, but it didn't. The rest of their parentless winter break had been spent sleeping in and having snowball fights. He was James Potter after all, he probably just kissed girls for the fun of it, not because it meant anything. She had a silent panic attack debating whether or not she was sitting close enough, or maybe she was sitting too close, was ten centimeters too far? To close? Oh, Merlin.

"All I'm saying," Sirius stated bringing Lily out of her reverie, "Is that if winter and summer were in a popularity contest-"

"Sirius," James said, "Why would summer and winter EVER be in a popularity contest?"

"Oi! Prongs, will you let me finish you moping little twit." Sirius said with annoyance only brothers can have against each other.

"As I was saying," Sirius continued looking pointedly at James, "Summer would win, hands down-"

"I'm rather partial to autumn myself" Lily said dreamily, "I love all the beautiful leaves."

"I agree with Lily" Remus said more to annoy Sirius then to state an opinion.

"Bloody gits you lot are" Sirius said leaning against the couch and crossing his arms bitterly.

"No need to sulk like an old man, darling," Shay said smiling and tracing the planes of his chest, "Go on continue."

"Well," Sirius sighed, "I was going to suggest that we change the weather so that we could have one day of summer before we had to suffer for the rest of winter."

"That's a lovely idea, actually." Lily said impressed.

"Isn't that against the law?" James asked.

"Have you ever heard anyone actually tell you that it is?" Shay asked.

"It's one of those few subjects everyone just assumes is off limits, but really you can't be punished at all." Remus stated.

"Well then" Sirius stood and flicked his wand at the window, "Let's go."

"How hot did you make it outside?" Shay asked.

"36º C" Sirius replied happily.

"Merlin! Let's go for a swim then, Lily let's go change." Shay said excitedly and dragged her upstairs.

"Oh swimming" Sirius said dreamily, "You know what that means, Prongs."

"Swimsuits." James said smiling.

O.o.O

"Shay!" Lily screeched when they reached Shay's dorm. "I need a swim suit!"

"No problem, remember when we went shopping for dresses?" Lily nodded, Shay continued, "I bought us both fantastic ones! Navy with white strings for you and teal for me."

"Oh thank god," Lily said grabbing the swim suit and quickly changing. "Accio my tank top and shorts!"

Lily's white tank top and jeans shorts shot through the open window.

"Lily!" Shay shouted.

"Yes?" Lily said looking at her own reflection with disapproval.

"I feel fat, do I look it?" Shay asked seriously.

"Oh come on!" Lily said laughing and running barefoot back to the common room.

"Are you ready?" Shay asked, "Where's Remus?"

"Said he was going to sit this one out, he's still missing Victoria." James said smirking.

"Well then, shall we?" Sirius asked holding his arm out for Shay.

"We shall" Shay said taking his arm and walking out of the portrait hole.

"Let's wait a minute," James paused then continued hastily, "To let them have their moment."

"I agree," Lily said, "You better make sure he doesn't hurt her again."

"Don't worry, he won't. Promise." James said looking at Lily sincerely. Lily looked up and caught his gaze, she smiled sweetly.

"So, did my house live up to expectations?" James asked.

"James it's magnificent! I couldn't believe you lived there it's more like a palace than a house!" Lily said.

"Well, you know, it's cool." James shrugged and messed up his hair.

"You and your hair." Lily said shaking her head laughing.

"What about my hair, Lily-flower?" James asked raising his eyebrows.

"Well, guys and their hair, I get it." Lily said vaguely.

James looked at her questioningly.

"Well, I think that it's cute how you mess up your hair when you get nervous." Lily said shoving him light-heartedly, inside her head she was screaming 'Why are you flirting? What if he doesn't still like you?'

"Oh, awesome." James said gaining confidence.

"I think it's cute you get nervous around me," Lily said, "James Potter, Mr. Popular, gets nervous around me, Lily Evans, muggle-born, nerd. What is happening to the status quo?" Lily giggled, masking her own nervous edge.

"Why does you being muggle-born come into play?" James asked.

"Oh well, you know people." Lily said looking at the ground.

"Well, don't listen to people." James said.

"Well, sometimes it's hard not to. After seven years of being told you're less than everyone else. You start to believe it unfortunately." Lily sighed picking up a piece of paper off the ground and dropping it in a trash can.

"Lily-" James started.

"Just a little bit." Lily added.

"Lily!" James said annoyed.

"Don't you go telling me 'Oh you're just as good as everyone else, your blood doesn't matter!' Because unfortunately it does. That doesn't mean I don't do everything that I can to try to prove that statement wrong, but the thing is that I can be the top student, Head Girl and a nice person and some people still judge me for my blood." Lily said sadly.

"Well, those people don't matter." James said gazing once again at Lily.

"Thanks, but I'm used to it. Let's go swimming, I can already feel the heat Sirius conjured up." Lily said grabbing James' hand and pulling him out the main door and down to the lake. They kept their hands entwined unconsciously as they walked happily towards the thawed out lake. As they came closer they caught sight of their best friends already in the lake. Sirius and Shay were exchanging a rather passionate snog when James and Lily arrived. James raised a finger to his lips to signal to be quiet. Lily nodded and took out her wand, as did James.

"One, two, three." James whispered. And Lily shot fireworks in the sky that made dozens of tiny pink hearts and formed large words that read:

SHAY AND SIRIUS SNOGFEST!

James had shot a spell that caused them to stick to each other. They were frozen in their kiss and Lily and James were cracking up.

"Oh James, I think they're enjoying themselves. Maybe we should leave them be." Lily giggled.

"I agree Lils." James said putting his arm around her shoulders comfortably and started to walk back towards the castle. Muffled protests came from their friends who couldn't exactly talk with their lips stuck to each other.

"Oh wait!" Lily exclaimed, "We have to go swimming first!"

"Oh yes," James said, "This is true."

James pulled his shirt off and jumped in the lake. Lily's heart skipped a beat- more like three beats. He had a- pleasant physique. She kicked her flip flops off and stripped down to her new bikini. It made her look pleasantly tan and highlighted her hair. James thought so too. It was all he could do to not jump out of the lake and hold her close to him. He dug his fingers into the palms of his hands to keep his composure.

"Come on in Lily, the waters warm, thanks to my best mate." James said smiling as he slapped a very angry Sirius on the back.

"James, do you think they've had enough?" Lily asked looking sympathetically at the couple.

"No." James smirked.

"Okay two more minutes." Lily said and did a cannon ball into the lake. "James you liar! It's freezing!"

"Okay, well it just thawed out from winter, but I wasn't about to say its freezing. You would have never gotten in. Come here, I'll hold you." James said hopefully.

Lily's arms and feet propelled her towards James' arms, but her mind kept screaming 'What the hell are you doing Lily Evans?' She finally found James arms and was almost instantly warmer either from anxiety from being this close again or his body heat. She didn't care she was breathing in his smell- musky cologne and pine trees. Lily had to think very hard to not sigh.

"Getting warmer?" James asked resting his head atop hers.

"Almost." Lily breathed. James smiled this was so peaceful. Then Lily moved out of his embrace. "First take the spell off of them, or else I'll feel guilty."

"Alright." James mumbled and went to the side to grab his wand. "There you go."

"JAMES! LILY!" Both of them screamed and lunged for them.

"We're sorry!" Lily squeaked.

"Yeah we are!" James said a little more sarcastically.

"Oh I hate you two!" Shay said pointing to them before jumping out of the lake conjuring up a folding chair and laying down in the sun to dry off. Sirius joined her after glaring at James and Lily for quite some time.

"Okay, I'm cold again." Lily admitted once her teeth started chattering.

"Here." James said hugging her tightly.

"Thanks." Lily sighed, and silently cursed herself for sighing.

"Guess I make you the opposite of nervous." James teased.

"Is that a bad thing?" Lily asked craning her neck to look in his eyes that were a head higher than hers.

"Nope," James said, "Not at all."

It was bliss, it felt right. Even Shay and Sirius couldn't stay mad at their friends who looked so happy together.

Then, a person emerged from the bushes and stood wand raised at Lily and James.

_**So, for last chapter, the longest chapter so far I got… two reviews. I know more than 100 people read it and TWO of you bothered to review. That's pretty bad, so I think after this chapter I might stop updating for a while, because without feedback from you guys I never really know how the chapters are being received. I'm sorry I chose this chapter to slow down the updates, but I don't know, tell me what you think.  
xoxo,  
Anna**_


	19. I Wish I Had Known

_**You guys are amazing.**_

_**12 reviews in less than 24 hours! I guess I'm not stopping then:] Thank you so much for reviewing! I wrote this when I thought I would be ending the story, but I PROMISE IT'S NOT ENDING HERE! Here is Chapter 18 and I never think of the names before I publish so it will have a clever title by the time this reaches your eyes. Okay I'm babbling- here we go!**_

Severus Snape held his wand pointed straight at Lily and James. James had tightened his arms around Lily's waist once he saw the scrawny Slytherin. Lily decided not to turn around and face her ex-best friend.

"Snape!" Sirius snapped, his wand raised as well, "Put your wand down if you know what's good for you!"

"What do you want Snape?" James asked calmly, remembering that Lily hated it when he got mad at Severus.

"I need to talk to Lily." He said in a more sinister voice than Lily remembered.

Lily turned around in James arms, though being careful not to break the embrace. She was, after all, still cold.

"You lost the privilege to talk to me the second you chose the Death Eaters." Lily said coolly.

"Well, this is important." He snarled.

"You can say whatever you want me to hear in front of my friends." Lily replied in a monotonous tone.

"So you're really friends with these gits?" Snape said cruelly, "They're nothing more than glorified athletes, as soon as they're out of this place they're doomed to a lowly life."

"Don't talk about my friends like that." Lily snapped.

"Well, I need to talk to you now. Come. Here." Snape said through gritted teeth.

"Do not order her around, Snape!" James shouted.

"Stay out of this Potter." Snape snarled.

"He has a right to talk, Snape. He is my boyfriend." Lily said turning around and giving James a 'play along' look.

"Really? Him? I doubt it. He isn't good enough for you." Snape said coldly.

"And you are I suppose?" Lily countered, "He is good enough for me. He's certainly better than you. And yes we are dating."

Lily turned around and gave James an apologetic look before kissing him square on the mouth. Much more passionate than at Christmas. This was a certified snog. Lily thought back to how Shay had gotten Sirius to moan back at the sleepover and she lifted her legs around James' waist elevating herself so she could reach his mouth better. Thoughts in the back of her mind remembered the first day of school when she had also kissed James to make Snape jealous, it was funny that she didn't feel bad about either of those times. Her mind kept screaming like a little girl.

"Lily!" Snape snapped, but Lily didn't care. She knew she shouldn't be, but she was enjoying this very much. James kissed her back with enthusiasm and grabbed her legs to keep her in place. Lily tilted her head to deepen the kiss and realized she needed to stop.

"Still don't believe we're dating?" James smirked, with a sort of breathless look on his face, Lily smirked, boys were so easy.

"Lily, I need to talk to you. Now." Snape said harshly. Lily finally complied and got out of the lake.

"What?" Lily asked.

"Oi!" James shouted getting out too, "Stop ogling my girlfriend!"

James handed Lily a towel and glared at Snape.

"Come with me." Snape said.

"Oops, one problem. I don't trust you anymore Severus." Lily smirked.

"Just please, come on. They can't hear this." He said sounding almost remorseful.

"Fine" Lily said following him into the woods. The crooked branches caught on to her hair and pulled, no matter how many times she was poked she never said anything, determined to prove to Snape that she was strong.

"Now can you tell me?"

"They aren't who you think they are." Snape said.

"Who?" Lily asked.

"Potter and Black, of course." Snape said disgusted, "What happened to you Lily? We hated them!"

"What happened to me?" Lily asked incredulously, "What happened to you Sev? I found friends, people that like the idea that everyone can be equal!"

"Your wrong Lily." Snape said, "Everyone can't be equal. But that's not why I'm here. I have to tell you something."

"Will you ruddy get on with it then?" Lily asked annoyed.

"You have to believe me." Snape pleaded.

"Just tell me!" Lily snapped.

"Potter, and Black are Animagus. And Remus is a werewolf." Snape said flatly.

"You're lying." Lily said dismissively.

"If you don't believe look outside on a full moon. Potter is a stag, Black is a dog, Pettigrew is a rat and Remus like I said is a werewolf." Snape said triumphantly.

Lily was stunned. He had to be making this up. But she knew deep down he wasn't. She rushed back through the dark expanse of branches. Snape didn't even bother to follow her.

"Lily," Shay asked, "Is everything alright?"

"What did he say Lily?" James asked reaching for her hand.

"I- I need to ask you two," Lily pointed to James and Sirius, "Something. Important."

"Okay I think I'll head back to the castle anyway." Shay said kissing Sirius quickly and walking back towards the entrance.

"Lily?" Sirius asked worriedly.

"Are you two..." Lily paused, breathed, and continued, "Animagus?"

"Is that what he told you?" Sirius asked angrily.

"You are." Lily said incredulously.

"Yes, Lily we are." James said looking her straight in the eyes. "I'm sorry we didn't say anything sooner."

"And Remus, he's- he's a..." Lily asked trembling, "Oh Remus!"

"He gets by." Sirius said.

"I had to find out from Snape!" Lily whispered harshly.

"I'm sorry, we've never told anyone else. Though I reckon Dumbledore knows, being brilliant and all," James said, "Not that you're not brilliant! You know I think you're brilliant!"

"I wanted Shay to leave so Sirius you could have time to tell her before I do, because you've already had a screw-up. So, go find her and apologize for not telling her, just don't hurt her. She's an Animagus too, but you already know that. Padfoot."

Sirius nodded and mumbled, "I'm sorry Lily, thank you so much." before sprinting to the castle not even bothering to put his shirt on, perhaps on purpose.

"So, that leaves us." Lily said with anger in her eyes. "I really thought we were close. I thought maybe just maybe you were actually a good guy. I'm not stupid though, I know that you break the law by being unregistered. And you know what I would be fine with you being an Animagus, even being unregistered, but the thing is, you didn't tell me."

"I know, I'm sorry." James pleaded.

"And I know you sent Sirius as a dog to spy on us at our sleep over. I can put two and two together you know." Lily said with tears in her eyes, "And I know he must have told you everything, including my- feelings."

"Yes, and Lily I feel the same way!" James said grabbing her hands. "I love you, Lily Evans. I have for years!"

"James!" Lily shouted snatching her hands back, "I can't trust you! Whatever this is, that we have together, it's over." Lily grabbed her things, then started walking hastily back to the castle. James ran after her determined not to give up.

"Lily, I know I messed up! Just please give me one more chance!" James said grabbing Lily by the arm.

"I can't." Lily stuttered trembling.

"Lily, please!" James pleaded, the sparkling glaze before tears clouded his vision. "I need you. There won't ever be secrets again! Ever, not one! Just- please! Even if I've lost my chance to be your boyfriend, just please let me still be your friend."

"No, goodbye James." Lily said before prying herself from his hold and running all the way back to her dormitory to possibly cry.

O.o.O

The whole school was buzzing with the break-up of the secret couple that Hogwarts had been expecting for years. Their Head Boy and Girl were no longer together and the rumors were already flying on what secret had led Lily to let the number one bachelor of Hogwarts go. Some said he had cheated on her with that slutty Bellatrix, others said he had become a secret Death Eater, mostly though people guessed that he had cheated on her with someone. The two students in question had separated themselves as much as two people could at Hogwarts. Lily had retired to a fitful sleep in the Heads' Tower, while James was wide awake, drinking his troubles away with his best mates on top of the Astronomy Tower.

"James, you need to stop drinking." Remus insisted.

"Shuddup, mum." James retorted. "It's burning the feeling back inna me. An I am of age."

"Think he'll ever figure out how to deal with his problems without fire whiskey?" Sirius asked.

"Not without Lily he won't." Remus said sadly.

"Maybe I shouljus jump." James said standing up and stumbling towards the railing. His best mates were automatically next to him in less than a second.

"No way mate. Time for bed. Luckily it's Sunday tomorrow." Sirius said draping James limp arm over his shoulder so he could provide support.

"Well, at least the weather was nice today." Remus said.

"Worss day ever." James said before passing out and being carried back to his dorm.

Lily couldn't sleep, so she'd run down to the kitchen for a midnight- or two in the morning- snack. On her way back to the Heads' Tower she saw Sirius and Remus supporting James between them. She truly felt awful for hurting James and, well, hurting herself, but it had to be done. You couldn't base a relationship on lies. They hadn't even really been in a relationship so it hadn't been a real break-up. The longer she thought the more Lily knew this was rubbish, if two people cared about each other it was a relationship, no labels necessary. She slipped in the portrait hole as soon as Remus and Sirius left. Sat down on her bed. And she cried herself to sleep.

_**I thought Lily and James needed some drama! Don't worry I won't leave you hanging for too terribly long for the next chapter! I've been in a dramatic sort of mood, I'm at acting camp:] and well I guess that's been reflected here. Sorry for the drama, but relationships aren't always perfect. Soooooooooooo please review, they motivate me:] And thanks again for all the reviews for last chapter, they made me happy, I'm glad so many of you like the story, don't hate me too much for this drama! R&R!**_

xoxo,  
Anna


	20. Death

_**A/N Thank you guys so much for the reviews! As promised the next chapter, though this one isn't the cheeriest chapter ever- again! Sorry! There has to be some drama! And thank you so much for the reviews! Sorry it's taken so long for me to update… I've had three different versions of this chapter, because it's so pivotal and I liked this one the best.**_

Now the chapter!

Lily Evans had made it quite clear she had no intention of talking things through with James. She got up just before the bell would ring so she could hastily run out the door knowing that James would already have left. She walked quickly through the halls not bothering to look or talk to anyone. She began eating lunch by herself in the kitchens. She would even stay cooped up in the library until late, just so she wouldn't have to face James when she walked back to her dorm.

Her lack of a best friend became cruelly apparent, when she started sitting with Remus in classes, because Shay was with Sirius. They were closer than ever, Lily had saved a relationship and she knew it, but boyfriend seemed to trump best friend. She knew she was being antisocial and she knew she didn't give Shay much opportunity to talk to her, but it still stung having to drag through the terrible days without James, Shay or even Sirius.

Two weeks after Lily and James' split they finally collided. James had used the invisibility cloak to disguise himself when she returned late one night from the library. Lily peeked through the portrait hole and set her books down on her desk before James revealed himself.

"Lily" He said simply, making her drop a quill.

"Bloody hell, James." Lily breathed.

"Invisibility Cloak." James said holding up the silvery material.

"Oh another thing you used to spy on me and Shay at that sleepover?" Lily asked sarcastically.

"Yes, actually I did use this." James admitted.

"You bastard!" Lily exclaimed. "You knew how I felt for that long and you didn't even bother to bloody tell me!"

"Lily, I'm sorry, you know I'm sorry. I've tried to find you every day since you left me to tell you that I am." James said.

"I despise you James Potter, you disgust me." Lily spat.

"Then why are you still wearing the necklace i gave you?" James shot back.

Truthfully it was because Lily didn't want to let go of the budding relationship they'd had. She didn't want to forget Christmas. None of it.

"Do you want the necklace back?" Lily asked annoyed, "To give to the next girl you've found?"

"No, Lily." James said solemnly.

Lily took a good long look at James Henry Potter. He had bags under his eyes that showed the lack of sleep he'd been getting. His usual demeanor seemed to have completely changed. The lights that normally danced in his eyes had gone out.

"Here! Take it I don't want it James" Lily said with tears springing to her eyes.

"I love you, Lily. Can't you just accept that you love me too! I messed up, but everyone screws up something. Please, just believe that I'll never keep anything from you again. Please." James said cupping her cheek with his hand.

"I have to get some sleep." Lily said and walked off to her room.

O.o.O

It was week three of Lily and James not speaking. The first morning Lily joined everyone for breakfast in fact. She had woken up slightly cheerier than she had been in, well, three weeks. Shay squealed and hugged her before going and sitting back down on Sirius' lap that she had just vacated.

"Lily-flower!" Sirius said smiling at her across the table. "So nice of you to join us."

"I figured three weeks is long enough to go without breakfast." She said smiling.

"It's so good to see you smile Lily." Shay said.

"Where's James?" Remus whispered to Sirius, Lily pretended not to hear.

"So how is Quidditch going?"

"Great, we won the last game against Ravenclaw!" Shay said happily.

"Shay was wonderful." Sirius beamed.

"Look!" Shay said pointing at the Headmaster. "Dumbledore never gets mail."

He had detached a black envelope from the leg of the owl.

"Black envelope." Lily whispered. "Death."

"You don't think- James?" Shay asked.

They all sat silent, frantically looking for the wire-rimmed glasses that identified James. He walked in just as McGonagall started walking towards him.

"Er- hello Professor." James said when he saw McGonagall.

"Mr. Potter would you please come with me?" Professor McGonagall asked softly. "Mr. Black as well, please."

"Sure." James said easily.

Shay grabbed Sirius' hands and looked at him with eyes wide with fear; she gave him a peck on the lips before letting him follow McGonagall, towards Dumbledore. Tears stung Lily's eyes in anticipation and she covered her mouth to make sure no sound escaped. Lily grabbed Shay's hand and squeezed it as tight as possible as they watched Dumbledore with anxiety.

"Please, please, god don't leave those two boys orphans." Shay whispered to the ceiling.

"Please, please, let the Potters' live." Lily whispered eyes fixated on James. He had grabbed the edge of the table for support, now he had turned around and oh Merlin- tears. No. Not Diane and Henry, the nicest people Lily and Shay had ever met.

James and Sirius both walked back towards Lily and Shay with forced concentration. Shay ran to Sirius and through her arms around his neck to comfort him. Instinctively Lily stood up when James got close.

"Lily, Dumbledore needs you as well." James said holding his hand out.

"Are your parents alright?" Lily asked quickly trying to catch his glazed eyes. "James?"

"My grandfather and grandmother." James said softly as they approached Dumbledore.

"Miss Evans, perhaps we should go in my office to discuss this matter." Dumbledore said kindly.

"I would rather you tell me the 'matter' now please." Lily said realizing James' hand was still in hers.

"That is what Mr. Potter said as well," Dumbledore said sadly, "I regret to inform you that at six twenty three this morning your parents' lives were taken prematurely by Death Eaters..."

The rest of Dumbledore's explanation was a buzz as Lily felt herself sway and squeeze James' hand for balance.

"... I am sorry, Miss Evans." Dumbledore finished. Lily nodded dumbly and turned quickly to run back to her dorm to cry, for days, most likely.

"Lily." James called.

"Lily?" Shay said worriedly as she sped straight by her.

Lily barely heard them as she exited the Great Hall and ran up to her perfect dorm. The one that was everything she'd ever dreamed of, the one that was suddenly extremely unimportant. She sat on her four poster bed in confusion and sadness as her tears fell like rain down her pale cream face.

"Lily?" James Potter asked from behind the door, "May I come in?"

Lily willed herself to move and went to open the door. She looked up at his big hazel eyes and was saddened by the tear streaked face she saw.

"Hi." Lily said quietly and turned to sit back on her bed and patted the area next to her. James obliged and sat next to her. "Were you close?"

"Yes." James said looking her in the eyes. "They were retired Aurors. My dad looked up to them like gods and so naturally I did as well. They were our family's inspiration, and Voldemort cast them away like ants."

"I'm so sorry." Lily said leaning her head against his shoulder. "I wish I could have met them."

"They would have loved you." James said. "I wish I'd gotten to meet your parents properly."

"They would have fawned over you, my mother was always determined to be twenty five for her whole life, she would have talked about you like a lovesick teenager." Lily said letting out a silent watery laugh.

"I'm so sorry I was a jerk to you. I've trusted you all along; I was just scared you would be afraid of me or Remus and in turn me." James said in one breath.

"You don't have to apologize you just lost your grandparents."

"You just lost your parents, and you know what I've realized?" James asked.

"What?" Lily asked.

"We never know how long we have." James said, "And we should take what we love while we can."

"I agree." Lily said softly.

They continued to talk and cry and talk and cry some more and eventually the day turned to night and the night turned to morning, and morning found the two teenagers asleep on Lily's bed. Lily was facing the window, her head in the crook of James' neck, and James turned to the window as well, right beside her with his arm draped over her side protectively. Trying to keep the hurt out, that would no doubt hit them both once the sun shone through Lily's window.

O.o.O

_**Sorry it's so short, but I think it's necessary. Please review:] Thanks for reading!**_

_**Love,**_

_**Anna**_


	21. A Moment of Bliss and Terror

_**Hi guys… I am so sorry for taking forever to update…**_

_**Before you come after me with pitchforks and candlesticks, I have started in school and lets just say this year is way harder than I expected and I am insanely busy. Did you know you flipping have to start prepping for SAT's in EIGHTH GRADE? Ugh. I better get into somewhere good after all this stress. But anywayyyy.**_

_**I don't exactly like this chapter much and I will probably redo it when I have more time, but this is the sixth draft and… well here it is. Lily is so moody in this because, well when you lose someone this is literally what happens. **_

_**Hope you like it!**_

'Mmm, what smells so good?' Lily thought, she turned around and inhaled deeply eyes still closed. 'What was this warm wall that smelled so good?

Holy crap it's James.'

Lily's eyes shot open to look at the collar of James' shirt. Oh good. They still had clothes on. Why was James in her bed? Why did her eyes feel swollen? Why did his look swollen? Grandparents. Parents. Dead. She remembered. She took a deep breath and turned to look out the window.

The Whomping Willow loomed in the early morning darkness; two blue jays flew side by side toward it, the tree stayed paralyzed as they landed gracefully on a branch. Lily braced herself for the destruction of the beautiful birds, but it never came. After a few minutes one bird launched itself up into the air and did a loop-de-loop. The second bird followed and they playfully flew off across the sky.

Lily sighed in contentment. Those birds were just like her parents. It would have been just like her mother to do flips and whimsical motions and for her father to follow. She tried to convince herself that was some way of telling her they were alright, that she shouldn't blame herself for their deaths, but she couldn't completely convince herself. Lily wiped a budding tear from her eye and turned back towards James.

James. They'd both just realized how fast things can be taken away from you. Shouldn't Lily take this as a sign to move on? Her mom had always told Lily to give James a chance. Though she hated to admit it, he came up quite frequently at her house.

Oh screw it, Lily thought as she arched her neck up to his face and planted a soft kiss on his lips. His eyes fluttered open and his arms tightened around her slender waist. Lily let her hands wander towards his neck. She broke the kiss and leaned against his chest.

"Merlin I wish I could wake up to this every morning." James whispered and nuzzled his head into her neck lovingly.

"You smell so good, James." Lily sighed, "James?"

"Yes." James asked. Lily captured his lips again and closed her eyes. James responded immediately and the kiss deepened. Lily broke away for a moment to reposition her so she was sitting up, on top of him. She saw the lights in James' eyes reappear as she bent down to kiss him once more.

Then Lily's brain sparked into existence.

"James!" Lily cried, "We slept in it's a school day!"

"Dumbledore gave us both at least three days off." James said thoughtfully, Lily bent down to kiss him again, but he sat up before she could. "Let's not right now, I don't want to take advantage of you, because of the… present circumstances."

"Are you serious?" Lily asked incredulously getting out of their position and sitting on the opposite end of the bed in rejection.

"No!" James said quickly, "Believe me, I want to, a lot, but it's nearly noon and we're still in bed."

"Is that a problem?" Lily asked.

"No, I guess not." James admitted.

"Then, why did we stop?" Lily asked.

"I'm not sure." James said crawling towards her end of the bed to resume their snogging, but Lily hopped out of bed before he got to her.

"Maybe later." Lily smirked. "Want to give me some privacy to get dressed?"

"No," James said leaning back against the pillows and looking straight at her. "I'm fine right here."

"Alright then." Lily said, seductively undoing her tie and letting her hair down. She obviously wouldn't let him stay long, but she could tease him for a while. She took off her long stockings and long school skirt revealing spandex shorts. She discarded her school vest and looked up at James.

His expression was a cross between a little boy who just saw a world built of candy and an animal that was eyeing prey. Lily laughed, boys were so easy, she had a cami on so she decided to torture him a little longer. She started unbuttoning her shirt and let it drop to the floor.

James groaned loudly and tried to disguise it as a cough. Lily laughed loudly and smiled at him.

"You can leave now." Lily said looking over her shoulder. "Please?"

"A-alright." James squeaked. "I-I-I'll meet you in the common room."

"See you in a few minutes." Lily replied sweetly.

Lily heard James stop outside the door and slide his back down it towards the floor. She heard him take shaky deep breaths and finally get up slowly and walk towards the bathroom. Oh James.

Lily threw on skinny jeans and an off the shoulder baggy sweater. She walked out to the common room and laid back on one of their couches.

What a crazy morning- or afternoon. She couldn't seem to wrap her head around the fact that she had forgiven James that fast. Her mum must be smiling down on her. She would always sneak into Lily's room to read James' many letters. Their relationship was more like sisters- and Lily was the older one. Her mum thought James' letters were the single most romantic things she'd ever read in her entire life. Screw romance novels, her daughter had a living breathing hero who wrote her romantic letters. And her dad always wanted to meet this boy that had the infatuation with her. He always said to tell him the date so he could clean his shotgun in time.

Her parents.

Her parents would never see her make her speech at graduation, never be there to help her pick out her wedding dress or walk her down the aisle. They would never have grandchildren. Never meet James or any other boy she might end up with. They were gone.

Forever.

"Lily?" James called, "Are you crying?"

In fact she was she hadn't realized it, but she was.

"I can't believe I'm letting myself be happy this quickly," Lily whispered to no one in particular, "I-I have to go."

Lily rushed out the door leaving a bewildered James. Lily hid her tear streaked face from everyone she could as she raced up to the Astronomy tower. It seemed fitting; it felt like you were half way to heaven.

"I can't do this!" Lily screamed at the wind, "My family is gone." She whispered.

Tears poured down her face as she looked up in a desperate attempt to see some kind of sign to show her everything would work out. It never came. There was no fairy-tale sequence, just tears, the wind and Lily's sobs.

"I have no family! I'm completely alone!" Lily screamed to the sky. Then she collapsed and hid her face in her knees in defeat.

"You're not alone." James said.

Lily turned around slowly.

"Please," Lily asked. "I don't want anyone to have to see me like this.

"I don't mind, any view of you is marvelous." James said kindly.

"Hah." Lily said with a watery chuckle. "I can't wrap my head around it. I don't have a family, the only reason I ever got a word out of my sister was because our parents forced her to be civil. I am all alone."

"You have Shay and Sirius and Remus." James said, "And you'll always have me."

"I know, thank you, but really I need to be by myself right now." Lily said.

"But-"

"Please." Lily begged, tears silently falling and stabbing James like knifes.

"Lily I can't." James said, "I'll be crazy with worry that you'll do something stupid and end up hurt or-" He paused and looked over the edge. They were so high in the sky the people looked like midgets.

"I won't." Lily pleaded.

"Alright I'll be at the heads tower then." James said solemnly.

As soon as James was out of sight Lily got up and looked over the edge.

Maybe this was the answer? Lily thought. No. It can't be, but still.

Lily leaned over the edge and climbed on the rim so she was sitting with her legs dangling over the edge.

Definitely not the answer, but still this was sort of calming. Sure she was still crying her eyes out and the wind was probably giving her hypothermia, but having the adrenaline of being so high up and her legs free of the ground made her feel happier.

She looked over to the Heads Tower and saw James' hair quickly disappear under the invisibility cloak while he presumably sat watching Lily, making sure she was alright.

Lily smiled slightly. He was so sweet, but would she really live up to his expectations? This little speculation was a thought nursed in the depths of Lily's mind while she pondered her life.

Maybe her parent's deaths were grounds for a drastic change. She could take up Quidditch. Or she could dye her hair black. Or let her grades take second priority. Or she could start dating every boy in seventh year. Or maybe she could just stay Lily. Plain old Lily, yes, that sounded good.

After a while the wetness on Lily's cheeks began to fade as she realized she had run her tear ducts dry. The wind had stopped, it had gotten dark though and she could see the sway of the trees in the Forbidden Forest in black silhouettes. She sighed; time to try to get back to normal. Reluctantly getting off of the ledge Lily moved like a zombie down the stairs and down the hallway to the Heads Tower.

"Hi Lils." James said kindly as she walked in. "How are you?"

"I was just thinking." Lily said. "Good night."

"Lils its six o'clock." James said.

"Good night James."

"Night Lily."

O.o.O

The warm colors of the sunrise calmed Lily as she woke up and sat on the huge couch in the common room. Their wall of a window showcased the natural beauty of it all. Lily summoned hot coco after an hour or so, but otherwise it seemed like staring out into the vast unknown seemed like the best therapy.

James had emerged from his room and sat down on the couch.

"I'm sorry; I shouldn't have laid there yesterday morning gawking at you. I was disgusting, and perve-"

"Good morning James, I was just thinking about how much my parents would have loved you." Lily said.

"I hope you didn't tell them too many terrible things about me." James said.

"Only the worst I assure you, but they loved you anyway, thought you were romantic and I should give you a chance." Lily smiled.

"Even your dad?"

"Well, he thought you would be good target practice." Lily joked.

"Oh, lovely." James said smiling.

"Crazy how quickly people are gone. Just a statistic on how many people Voldemort's killed." Lily said sadly.

"They'll always be more than that to you. Never forget anything about them; I'll never forget anything about my grandparents."

"I hope not. If you're anything like them they deserve to be remembered." Lily said kindly.

"Thank you. That means a lot." James said genuinely.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I don't feel like having to answer tons of questions in the Great Hall. May we go to the kitchens?" Lily asked hopefully.

"We may." James smiled and grabbed her hand as they walked quietly towards the picture of the ticklish pear, which they promptly- tickled.

"What can we get you Mr. Potter, Miss Evans?" Twelve different house elves asked eagerly.

"Ice cream," Lily said quickly, "Mint chocolate chip, please, a lot of it."

"I'll have the same. Thank you." James said sitting on the floor near the entrance. Lily joined him and sat next to him, as she leaned her head on his shoulder his mind wandered to the possibility of a future with Lily, sure they weren't official, but yesterday happened didn't it? Waking up with Lily next to him, eating ice cream with Lily, having Lily's head always on his shoulder, his hand permanently around her waist; it was too good to be true- he needed to focus on the here and now.

"Ice cream for Mr. Potter and Miss Evans." A house elf declared triumphantly. A huge glass of mint green ice cream was set in front of them.

"Thank you very much!" Lily cooed taking a spoon and digging in, "Comfort food."

"So this is how you deal?" James asked smirking, "Staring into space and eating ice cream?"

"Precisely." Lily said leaning against the wall and enjoying the moment of happiness.

_**Please read and review! **_

_**Hope you're loving your lives, loving your friends, family and everything**___

_**Love- Anna**_


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